Hundreds of Milwaukeeans express frustration on social media after man has 2 vehicles broken into in 24 hours

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — A Milwaukee man took to social media to share two car break-ins that happened to him on the city’s east side. That post on Reddit now has hundreds of comments of other Milwaukeeans echoing similar concerns.

When Andrew Collins moved to Milwaukee's east side, he didn’t think this would happen to him.

“I heard the stories before we moved. We moved into this place about six weeks ago,” said Collins.

Collins says on Sunday, Oct. 13, he parked his car in front of his apartment. Later that night, the back passenger window was smashed. He says stuff was rummaged through, but nothing was taken.

After his window was broken, Collins says he filed a report with the Milwaukee Police Department. One day later, his wife’s car was broken into as well.

“The first one, I was irate,” said Collins. “The second one, it was a numb feeling.”

That’s when Collins decided to share what happened to him on Reddit.

“I just needed somebody locally, who understands what’s going on. Somebody who maybe has experienced it before,” said Collins. “And a lot of those people have since moved out of Milwaukee.”

More than 200 likes and 100 comments echoed Collins’ concerns.

In July, MPD reported an uptick in car-break ins. More than 150 cars were broken into during a two-week period.

“They [District 5] said that there were already additional patrols, usually at nights and early mornings, but my wife’s car was broken into in the middle of the day, so it didn’t help us much,” said Collins.

He says it’s an expensive problem that’s affecting residents across the city.

“I don’t know what the solution is and that’s probably the most frustrating part,” said Collins.