Residents angry over increasingly frequent car break-ins in OTR

OTHER-THE-RHINE, Ohio (WKRC)- It’s a troubling trend on the rise in the Tri-State: car break-ins.

They’re happening across Greater Cincinnati, but some areas are getting hit more often than others.

Mike Basch has lived in Over-the-Rhine for more than a decade and owns several Airbnb’s in the area. He said that to an unsuspecting person, the parking lot near the corner of 14th and Walnut streets looks safe and secure, but he warns that’s not the case.

“We’ve seen over the last year that this lot that we’re in is getting hammered multiple times a week. Sometimes they break 10 cars out in one evening, and it’s frustrating,” Basch said.

The Cincy Insights website does not list data beyond the last 112 days from any given day, but a look at the available information showed more than 640 reports of car break-ins between February and June of this year. The number is trending downward, but we’re seeing the crooks targeting neighborhoods outside the city and even into Northern Kentucky.

Basch said that just this past weekend, six cars were broken into, four of which belonged to people from out of town. He said that’s a black eye for the city when those people share their experiences.

“It’s a cancer to the city. Right now, it seems like we’re accepting this ongoing phenomenon instead of coming up with a plan for how to curb it,” Basch said.

Basch also said that the company that runs the lot, Urban Sites, has been good to work with and is discussing putting up cameras and other security options. He said he doesn’t think that’s going to be enough, pointing out the thieves wear masks to hide their identity.

“These kids are hammering dozens of cars in one lot at one time. It’s something that the city needs to start to address, or else it’s going to continue to happen,” Basch said.

He said that it’s preventable and that he’s not aware of any recent break-ins at the neighboring open lot owned by 3CDC. He said that 3CDC pays for security to monitor the parking lot.