SAN ANTONIO — One west-side neighborhood has had enough of the crime its dealt with for years.
Brian Brewer has lived in the El Sendero neighborhood since 2005. For the past, almost 20 years, he explains the neighborhood has dealt with all sorts of crime. Mail thefts, cars being broken into, cars being stolen and bikes being stolen from backyards are just the tip of the iceberg.
"My next door neighbor, they tried to steal his truck a few times and they stole the tail lights off of it," he said. "I have a lot of crime going on, and it's getting worse. This [was] supposed to be a gated community and they never installed the gate."
Last September, an attempted theft resulted in a shootout. Brewer explains that no one was hurt though.
Another neighbor, Fernando Gauthereau has security cameras installed that have captured people stealing mail from their cluster mailbox. One video captures the alleged thieves driving away in what is believed to be a red Mercedes. In the past three years, Gauthereau says the mailboxes have been broken into fifteen times, twice just last week.
"Police has special equipment to identify who did it," he said. "They know whose car it is. It's easy to get that car. How many red Mercedes are in San Antonio?"
Both Gauthereau and Brewer are beyond frustrated.
According to the San Antonio community crime map, within the past year, the area has had over a dozen reported thefts.
If it comes down to it, Brewer explains he'll do what he has to in order to defend his property.
"Well, I'm retired military, so we go to the danger, not run away from it," Brewer said. "If something starts happening, I'll come out and I guess I'll be involved in the shooting as well. Maybe I'll get shot. I don't care if that's what happens, but we're not going to take it standing down and we're not going to allow this crime to keep happening."