Nashville, TENN. (WKRN) — It’s a holiday week and for many, it’s a time to rest — but not for everyone.
Some vehicles were targeted in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, with residents waking up to find windows smashed. Broken glass covered several streets.
Another East Nashville neighborhood also saw dozens of cars broken into this week. Residents want to know what the city is going to do stop this type of crime. News 2 obtained surveillance video of the criminals in action.
Surveillance video showed people making their way through Wedgewood-Houston smashing car windows on Dec. 30.
“They’re just looting us — organized looting,” Anthony Scotto, who has lived in Wedgewood-Houston for three years, said.
Scotto had two of his cars broken into this week, with repairs costing him thousands of dollars. He said surveillance video showed that the thieves work in groups of three to four. Scotto said he thought “dozens” of cars were hit.
“This was extremely organized, extremely well thought-out and extremely timed for them not to get caught,” Scotto said.
Laila Loman visited Nashville to ring in the new year. However, it wasn’t quite the Southern hospitality she expected on her first visit to Music City when she woke up to find her car window smashed.
“They didn’t take a single thing,” Loman said. “There was nothing to take. It’s a rental. It was empty.”
Data from the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) showed that, on average, they received 172 theft from vehicle cases every week for 2024. That’s down from the average of 184 cases per week reported in 2023.
Across Nashville, auto theft is down 7.9% from 2023 to 2024. Despite the decline, folks like Scotto are not reassured as cars keep keep being damaged just feet from his home.
“We need to stop this. It needs to be stopped,” Scotto said. “Our quality of life is shaken. It doesn’t feel good and everyone needs to be aware what’s going on.”
Wedgewood-Houston residents told News 2 they want to see license plate recognition (LPR) technology and more police so they don’t have to live in fear.
