"It's been very common, if you leave your car outside, chances are at one time or another it'll be broken into," said neighbor Pamela Dreef.
Police say they've seen a rash of car burglaries reported in the Heights and residents are on alert. But at one home, surveillance video was rolling just before a car was broken into.
Neighbors are warning others about the strange actions of one guy that were caught on tape. He was seen riding a bicycle approaching a gray car. Neighbors on Waverly Street in the Heights say the strange man was caught on camera trespassing on their property and checking out cars.
Dreef said, "(It's) very frustrating. You know, it's our home, and it's our place where we feel safe."
Dreef says her housekeeper parked a car in the alley behind her home Thursday morning when spaces ran out on the main street. She says her surveillance cameras caught the man riding up, pulling the driver's side handle and peering through the window.
"When she went to leave, we discovered the back window was broken into and her purse was stolen," Dreef said.
Though the video doesn't show the actual break-in, it does show a person scoping out the car minutes before they discovered the car break-in. Now Dreef is warning her neighbors and contacting police.
"You know, if he's going to keep going after cars, I mean that's obviously a concern," said neighbor Omar Sharief. "But if he gets more brazen and does something else, that's a bigger concern to me."
Houston police say they have responded to several car break-ins in this area recently. Officers say many of those car burglaries in the past month have been between the 900 and 1000 block of Waverly.
"I'm sure it's going to catch up with him -- hopefully soon because this is very frustrating," Dreef said.
These car break-ins have police reminding folks to avoid leaving valuables in plain view.
