ETNA, Pa. — A local family is speaking out after the car and truck were stolen on the same night.
Police believe this is part of a much bigger crime spree.
Channel 11′s Jillian Hartmann spoke with the father outside his home in Etna.
Nick Farine said early Tuesday morning, an SUV pulled up to his street.
Soon after, he says four people with masks and hoodies on are seen on video checking for unlocked cars, getting into his work truck and taking off.
They jammed a key into the ignition to get it to start.
His son’s car was also taken because the spare key was left in his truck.
“Luckily, we have an app on our phone that locates our vehicles, so I was able to track it to Mount Oliver within an hour and a half of it being stolen, so, before they could do any major damage, I was able to get both vehicles,” Farine said.
Their stolen cars were found along Knoxville Avenue in Pittsburgh, scratched up and damaged.
“The mirror was broke on it. We had a chainsaw taken, jump pack, a tool kit gone and they just destroyed it,” Farine said.
Etna’s police chief said two more stolen cars were also found in the same location.
He says other communities were hit this week. Aspinwall had a car stolen, two unlocked cars were broken into in Sharpsburg and seven in Etna.
“We are just sick and tired of it people coming from other neighborhoods to our neighborhood and take our stuff we work hard for,” said Farine.
Local police departments are working together to catch the people responsible and to see if the crimes are connected.
Farine says the information on his drone mobile app is helping in the investigation.
“It shows every stop the vehicle made. Police know exactly where these people went to and where they stayed, which house and how long they were there,” Farine explained.
Farine says his work truck and son’s car are getting repaired. He expects to get his truck back in a month.
Meanwhile, police are warning people to lock their doors and not to leave valuables in their cars.
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