'Getting worse:' Neighbors say car break-ins are becoming too common in Bay View

BAY VIEW -- A couple living in Bay View has a rattled sense of security after two crimes in one month. They're hoping the neighborhood crime will come to an end.

"To me, it ruins your sense of security," said Marshall Levis, lives in Bay View.

Military veteran, Marshall Levis, moved in this spring and already someone broke into both he and his wife's cars, leaving a mess.

Marshall Levis

"Everything that was in my glove box, my owner manuals, repair paperwork, were just all over the floor," said Levis.

Levis was sleeping feet away in his living room when one of the break-ins happened near Bennett and Delaware.

"The people who lived here before had their car broken into a couple times and I think it's frustrating that it's a continual problem," said Levis.

And it is. Not far near Hanson and Oklahoma, home surveillance captured a man checking door handles, another captured him breaking off a handle.

"It's been going on for years now, it's just getting worse and worse," said Ryan Berres, lives in Bay View.

Ryan Berres' vehicle has been broken into five times over the past two years, including someone ripping his license plate off in the middle of the day -- and a smashed window that left the car a mess.

"Whatever it is, you have to have people willing to step out of the shadows and take a stand against what's going on in their neighborhoods," said Levis.

 

Levis will step out of the shadows even as the crime shows an unwelcoming face.

"I just really want police to take this as a serious thing and make their presence known a little bit more so people feel more relaxed in this neighborhood," Levis said.

Thankfully nothing of value was taken from the couple. They plan on installing cameras in their home and hope Milwaukee police will take the crimes seriously and add more patrols during the summer months.