LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — People in a neighborhood near Tropicana Avenue and Decatur Boulevard say they feel helpless after there have been more than a dozen home break-ins in their community.
Several residents told 13 Action News from the West Trop Condos that they have lived with a false sense of security.
While there are some surveillance cameras on the gated property; they are not everywhere, and residents said some of the cameras don't even work.
One of the residents shared video taken from inside his family's home. He said the entire place was ransacked and thieves stole anything of value they could find.
Azeb Habte described how the crooks have been getting inside the homes.
"They will break glass to put their hand in or push the slide and push it right back up - easy," Habte said.
The stolen items included expensive jewelry, designer accessories, along with cash.
Habte also said the rash of break-ins has gone on for months with several families making at least a dozen police reports - as boarding up windows and cleaning shattered glass has become a familiar routine.
13 Action News checked the police crime map for that area and found more than 20 burglary reports since the beginning of the year.
Even so, the group of Ethiopian immigrants who spoke to 13 Action News said they believe they were being targeted. They feared its been an inside job as they think perhaps some people have observed them with lots of purchases to send to relatives back home.
The group also said the property management company had shown little sympathy and their requests for increased security have been ignored.
"Police are here every month. They have told us basically there is nothing they can do," Habte said.
"They tell us to leave the light on, let them know that you are home and maybe they won't rob you - that's the only solution so far," she said.
13 Action News reached out to the property manager for comment but were unable to reach them by phone Wednesday evening.
