July 20, 2022—The University City, Missouri, area is seeing an increase in drivers visiting body shops for repairs following break-ins. 

According to Fox 2 Now, police are investigating car break-ins around the St. Louis area. Albertin Auto Body Shop has received calls from many people who have suffered from these crimes. Ryan Stout, an estimator at the shop, told Fox 2 Now that his team is getting around 10 calls a week from break-in victims to see if the shop can get them in for repairs. 

“The right rear window broken, the column taken apart and then they’re destroying the lock cylinder to get the vehicle started,” Stout said in the article of the type of damage he's seen. 

Local police have been recommending that residents use anti-theft steering wheel locks in an effort to prevent a theft from occurring, and are even giving out one steering wheel lock per household, according to the article. 

The uptick in these crimes is a great concern for the area, and Stout has sympathy for those he's seen affected so far. 

“Normally, if they do get away with it, once it comes in here, you know they kind of just destroyed the vehicle for the vehicle owner,” said Stout in the article. “We had one customer that actually when they did steal it, they did so much other damage it ended up [totalling] their vehicle. And that was just a cost that she wasn’t expecting. Especially with the economy right now.”