Seattle seeing spike in car break-ins

Thieves are breaking into cars at an alarming rate in Seattle.

According to new numbers released by the Seattle Police Department, police have seen an 18 to 20 percent spike in car break-ins in the city.

Sandra Brozusky regularly parks in the Town Hall parking lot, right next to I-5 on First Hill, but said she knows she’s taking a chance.

“There’s plenty of times you walk by and there’s piles of glass, especially along this building over here,” said Brozusky.

Brozusky said she takes her chances, in part, because she drives an old pickup, which she thinks isn’t a very alluring target whether she’s downtown or at home.

So far in 2016, there have been nearly 3,000 car break-ins in Seattle &#8212 500 more than last year at this time.

In the Town Hall parking lot, there have been seven reported break-ins so far in 2016.

The parking garage downtown at Third and Virginia is a hot spot for car prowls, too. Six cars have been broken into there this year. At Northgate Mall, there have been 17 car prowls since January 1.

There is some good news in the latest numbers, though, specifically for the SoDo area.

A Seattle police precinct captain there reports car prowls are down 54 percent in that area, after police focused on the problem.