GROVE CITY, Ohio — The Grove City Police Department reported an incident Tuesday night involving three cars being broken into at a school basketball game. All of the cars impacted were either a Kia or Hyundai.
Nichole Grubb is one of the victims from that night. She said she was at Central Crossing High School for her daughter’s Special Olympics cheerleading practice. They were only inside for just over an hour when she came outside to find her car was not working properly.
"I noticed I was hitting my key fob to unlock my car and it wasn't working, so I thought maybe the battery was dead, so I unlocked it and then I noticed my back passenger window was busted out,” Grubb said.
The school resource officer told her the car also appeared to have attempted to be stolen based on the condition of the ignition.
Grubb said she typically uses a steering wheel lock on her car, but didn’t think it would be necessary while at her kids’ school.
"I didn't think to use it because I was only going to be in the school for an hour and I was parked directly in front of the school. I use it everywhere else I go, honestly. But I was in Grove City, I was at Central Crossing High School, it was so busy people were in and out of the building, so I don't even know how no one saw anything,” Grubb said.
Despite there being a packed parking lot for the basketball game, three cars were broken into by the same two juveniles who Grove City police said are 14 and 15 years old.
Grubb said now that her Kia has been broken into twice, she’s fed up.
"I feel like I shouldn't be responsible for the cost every time and I am. Insurance companies won't even take me, I had an insurance company drop me, and I just had to switch to a new insurance company and now I already have to file a new claim,” Grubb said.
"We've seen an increase in the Kia’s and Hyundai’s as well being stolen we've seen an increase in some violent crime that goes along with that,” said Lt. Justin Gallo with Grove City police.
Gallo said it's important to be vigilant to help yourself and your neighbor, even in times when you might not think you have to.
"If you see something, say something. If you're in an area and you see some suspicious activity and that people are breaking into cars, be a good witness, do not confront, contact your local law enforcement,” Gallo said.
Grubb said this experience has made her not want to leave her house. The mother of four now has to pay more than $2,500 to fix something she didn’t think she needed to worry about.
"You just never know what someone's going through and doing something small like that, it's not small, but it could really hurt someone,” Grubb said.
The two juvenile suspects are each being charged with two counts of felony theft and two counts of criminal damaging. The third car involved falls under Columbus’ jurisdiction.