SAN ANTONIO — Police are sending out a warning following an uptick in taillight thefts.
UTSA Police says there's been an increase in taillight thefts specifically in Ford vehicles. As a result, they're beefing up patrols.
San Antonio Police say this is happening across the city.
KENS 5 viewers reached out saying this is also a recent issue at a parking lot off Broadway and a northwest side hotel.
The most recent cases at the hotel happened Sunday as two families were in town celebrating birthdays.
In late August, Lisa and George Haggerton of Carrizo Springs booked a stay at the Holiday Inn Express near 1604 and Braun. They were in town helping their daughter move into a college dorm.
August 23, when George walked outside to the parking lot, he noticed the tailgate of his Ford truck was down.
"I come to the end of my truck...I was like, 'What's that?' I got to looking and noticed my taillights were gone," he explained.
George reported the theft to hotel employees, who followed him outside to take pictures of the crime. He said he was offered a free night for their troubles.
"[The hotel employee] said, 'You can park in the Diamond Parking Lot. It will be safer there. You can even park in the sally port if you need to,'" George recalled.
The Haggertons accepted the offer and returned to the same Holiday Inn Express this past weekend to celebrate George's birthday.
Sunday morning, they learned thieves struck again.
"I go and look out the window and my tail lights were gone," said George.
"'He's like you're not gonna believe it! They stole them again!'" Lisa added.
Surveillance video shows criminals taking taillights from vehicles parked near the front doors.
"There were two brand new Chevrolet pickups with the back window busted out of them," George explained. "A white Ford Raptor, they had stolen his taillights. Then right next to the sally port next to the column, there was a red Ford Raptor, they broke his back window and stole his tail lights."
The red Ford Raptor belonged to Chris and Ashleigh Chapman, in town visiting from Magnolia, TX, near Houston.
"I was the closest parking spot to the front door," said Chris. "They didn't even just drop the bolts for the taillights on the ground, they placed them nice and neatly inside the bed."
Chris brought his family to San Antonio to celebrate their youngest son's 7th birthday and his wife Ashleigh's birthday, too. They visited SeaWorld and planned to visit Natural Bridge Caverns Sunday. Unfortunately, the Champans' plans were cut short.
"We lost several hours of us being able to stay and do the caverns because we were waiting on the manager to show up and help us out, which he decided not to do that," said Ashleigh.
Since January of last year, SAPD records show 74 burglaries and thefts of vehicles calls to the Holiday Inn Express off Amelia Pass.
"When I was talking with police this time, they made a comment that this happens basically on a weekly basis for the past year," said George.
What disappoints the two families the most was the response from management.
"The most disturbing thing he told me was, 'Yes, we know this has been an ongoing problem.' So ok, you know it's been an ongoing problem, but what are you doing about it?" said Chris.
Justin Young, the General Manager of the hotel, told KENS 5 in an e-mail: "My staff and I have reported incidents and provided security footage in hopes of catching perpetrators and helping to prevent future theft from happening on our property and neighboring businesses. As you can imagine, I want this to stop just as much as the victims. We urge local law enforcement to continue investigating these incidents and help stop this crime."
Young added that he's been in communication with SAPD about the thefts and the hotel has stepped up security walks around the property. He also said employees are informing guests at check-in and with signage on the front glass doors.
"All the signs say you need to take in your belongings. I completely agree," said Lisa. "But you can't take in your taillight!"
"Do they have a place where I can park my car in my room with me?" George added. "What prompted us to reach out to [KENS] was we felt like there was a very nonchalant attitude about what was taking place."
The Haggertons say each set of taillights costs between $5,300 to $5,600 to replace. While insurance will cover roughly $2,000, that still means they have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for the deductibles.
"It's $11,000 in repairs," Chris told us, showing us the estimate statement in his hand.
On the drive back home without taillights, the Haggertons and Chapmans taped signs to their back windows — hoping to avoid getting pulled over.
"Please don't pull me over. My taillights were stolen at, then the hotel's name, then the case number at the bottom of it," said Ashleigh, reading the sign.
"I had a couple of cops pull up behind us," said Chris. "Maybe they got a good laugh out of it."
Both couples hope by highlighting the problem, it may prompt the hotel to take further action to help prevent future thefts. In the meantime, they won't be staying at the hotel again.
"Unless it's for me to do my own sting," said George. "I'm to a point where I'm tempted to hide out in my truck and wait for them to come steal my taillights and step out with my gun and stop them myself and call 911 because something needs to be done."
KENS 5 viewers sent in photos from another area that appears to have been targeted by taillight-stealing thieves. A short-term parking lot near Broadway and 410 was recently spotted with several trucks missing taillights.
San Antonio Police are calling these thefts a crime of opportunity.
They encourage everyone to park in well-lit areas and avoid parking in vacant parts of a large parking lot. What could discourage someone from stealing a taillight, they say, is a tail light guard.