VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Police Department, Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and Valdosta State University Police Department are investigating a string of car robberies that seems to be connected around the City of Valdosta. 

More than 50 vehicles have been in some way entered by a group of unidentified people over the past two weeks, spread out between different locations in the city. This includes Northwind Apartments, Sustella Parking Deck on the VSU campus and at Little Jo Court Apartments. The suspects are believed to be teenagers, police said.

All three departments have had reports in their jurisdictions regarding these car entries, which Lt. Jack Winningham, a member of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office’s Investigation Division, calls “car hopping,” with the thieves primarily entering unlocked cars in a given area. 

“One car will put five folks, four folks out,” Winningham said, “and they’ll just go through the neighborhood and start lifting handles.”

During one of these incidents, a Lowndes County squad car was entered, though nothing was taken from the vehicle. 

According to Winningham, the investigation team pulled footage from doorbell cameras from apartments around the area in order to gain information on the suspects, as well as dashcam footage from cars. 

This is the same for Valdosta State University, who faced the same string of car hopping. 

“Surveillance footage from campus CCTV cameras shows four masked individuals entering the

parking lot at approximately 2:40 a.m.,” a VSU PD release said. “Over the span of 20 minutes, the suspects broke windows and gained access to at least 20 vehicles, removing various items of value including cash and personal belongings.”

The Valdosta Police Department has been looking into cases related to the robberies near Azalea Woods, and Chief Leslie Manahan said that there are measures in place to prevent further incidents and apprehend the suspects.

“As part of crime prevention, our agency increases patrols and conducts specialized details in areas of town where complaints of increases in crime have occurred,” Manahan said. “Our officers enforce Georgia laws when they find juveniles loitering, especially during early morning hours when they are violating the curfew law.”

At least three guns were among the items stolen since the thefts began.

“In this particular case, it’s fortunate that there weren’t but three taken,” Winningham said.

All three departments have issued a warning to residents to keep their doors locked, keep valuables indoors and to report suspicious activity to the police immediately.

“As always, we want to remind citizens not to leave valuables in their vehicles. Park in areas that are well lit, lock car doors, keep serial numbers of their property in a safe place, and if they see anything, call 911,” Manahan said.