SAN ANTONIO — There are growing fears this week after an apparent trend of break-ins at a northwest side apartment complex, near UTSA.
At least two women say a stranger broke into their bedrooms. Both cases happened within the last two months at The Reserve off Babcock, between Hausman and UTSA Boulevard.
San Antonio Police believe the two incidents could be connected. They're stepping up patrols at the complex and so are UTSA Police.
In the meantime, The Reserve is checking all windows to make sure they work.
KENS 5 spoke with three additional tenants Wednesday evening who are calling for serious security changes at the complex. Two have returned home or woken up to find their door or window open.
For their safety, each tenant who KENS 5 has interviewed about these incidents wished to protect their identity.
"I haven't slept through a full night since that incident in March happened," said a first floor tenant, who says she's living in fear.
"It's terrifying being in an apartment with all women on the first floor," said another resident. "Especially when you're living in the last building and it's the biggest target."
Over the last two months, two cases involved a man breaking into first floor apartments in the same building at The Reserve.
The latest case happened Sunday when a tenant told police she woke up to find a man lying in her bed smiling at her.
"Next, he's either gonna rape someone or kill someone," said a second floor resident.
The other incident happened in late March. That's when another tenant told San Antonio Police a man videotaped himself doing a lewd act outside her window, then broke in to put the video on her phone.
"When he got into my room he took my phone off the charger. He took it to my patio, and he was taking pictures of himself."
San Antonio Police are investigating whether both incidents could be related, and they are treating both as separate cases at this time.
Other women who live in the building say they're seeing a disturbing trend.
"The screen to my window randomly went missing. My roommates' windows were also open, when we're also very adamant about keeping our windows locked," said a tenant who moved in this January.
"I came home and my slide glass door was all the way open," said a tenant who made the discovery in March.
A woman who we interviewed says she witnessed scary moments last year involving her downstairs neighbor.
"I saw someone look into the apartment below me, so immediately called police and he saw me looking down at him so he rode off on his bike."
In a letter to residents, management at The Reserve says they've already started checking windows and haven't found any to be faulty. They say the locking mechanisms are working.
What could help in the future, tenants say, is the distribution of safety notifications by apartment management.
"If an e-mail would have gone out way earlier when the first incident happened, people could have locked their windows and see if it opened....if their locks were broken."
San Antonio Police recommend everyone stay vigilant, lock all doors or windows and if you see something suspicious, say something.
"If you go somewhere, have a buddy come along with you. When you go out to your car, don't be walking and texting. Have keys ready to go when you get to your vehicle," said Sgt. Washington Moscoso of SAPD. "Get to know your neighbors, get to know who's supposed to be there, who's not supposed to be there."
District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez, who oversees the UTSA area, is planning to get involved.
"Councilman Pelaez is very alarmed about the recent incidents at The Reserve Apartments. He asks that anyone out there who has information that would help the police should call SAPD. If anyone has reason to believe that they are at risk, the first thing they should do is call SAPD, but also talk to the apartment management to point out areas of improvement. Our office will be reaching out to the apartment complex to discuss these incidents as well. This is an ongoing investigation and SAPD can't share any details but the Councilman will continue to consult with SAPD as the investigation unfolds."