CLEVELAND — In new surveillance camera video obtained by 3News, several thieves are shown breaking into vehicles parked at Stephanie Tubbs Jones School in Cleveland's Forest Hills neighborhood.
The Cleveland Division of Police told 3News on Friday that more than a dozen vehicles have been broken into at the elementary school in the last week. However, that's not the only CMSD facility that's been targeted.
A teacher from Hough's Daniel E. Morgan K-8 School, who wants to remain anonymous, told WKYC their car was also broken into.
"I got called out of my classroom for that," the teacher said. "I was in the middle of teaching."
The thieves at Stephanie Tubbs Jones School spent four and a half minutes searching the vehicles in the parking lot. You can watch surveillance video of the incident below:
"I want to be at my job," the Morgan teacher told us. "I am scared to death that this is going to happen again, or that I'm going to walk out in the parking lot in the middle of this to then be attacked myself."
The teacher added they want more security and safety on CMSD campuses. The Cleveland Metropolitan School District released a statement today saying, "The CMSD Safety & Security team continues to work closely with the Cleveland Division of Police to investigate and address incidents involving car theft and vandalism on school properties and in neighborhoods throughout the city."
"I just want to know that when I go to my car that I am safe," the teacher said.
Meanwhile, community members like Hank Davis — the executive director of Individuals Collectively Overcoming Negative Situations(ICONS) — travel through neighborhoods to ensure the schools are, indeed, safe.
"They already have a challenge to try to sit here and teach some of these kids," Davis explained, "and so it makes it even harder to have to worry about their cars being broken into."
Police told 3News no one has been arrested in connection to the crimes.