Hilton Head-area car thieves loot 27 cars in past 2 weeks, stealing cash and guns

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Hilton Head-area car thieves loot 27 cars in past 2 weeks, stealing cash and guns

Local thieves broke into at least 27 vehicles around Bluffton and Hilton Head Island in less than two weeks, stealing more than $8,000 in valuables

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Police reports show the break-ins from the ******* of Jan. 13-Jan. 25 were concentrated in a handful of neighborhoods, including Moss Creek Plantation, Dillon Road and the Woodlake area on northern Hilton Head. Only a handful of the thefts were caught on surveillance camera, and no arrests had been made as of Wednesday.

Such thefts happen year-round in Beaufort County but are typically more common during the summer months. Investigators say the perpetrators, usually younger suspects,

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, repeatedly tugging on car doors in search of unlocked vehicles.

Here’s a rundown of the reported cases, where they happened and what was nabbed from the nearly two-dozen vehicles.

Click on the map markers to view details on each reported theft.

1/13/25, Sutherland Way (The Gatherings): A resident of the Bluffton-area apartment complex told police someone had “rummaged through” his pickup truck overnight, stealing a Smith & Wesson pistol and $100 in small bills. The Chevrolet Silverado “must have been unlocked the previous evening,” and had no security camera coverage, he told a Beaufort County deputy.

1/14/25, Pine Burr Road East (The Gatherings): About $25 in loose change and nearly $500 in baby supplies, including a

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diaper bag, were reported stolen from a parked vehicle.

1/15/25, Stable Gate Road (Moss Creek): A homeowner in the Bluffton gated community told police her purse and wallet containing “multiple credit cards” were stolen from her Infiniti sedan.

1/15/25, Saw Timber Drive (Moss Creek): Two cars in a house’s driveway had the contents of their glove boxes strewn across the seats by thieves, but nothing was found to be stolen.

1/15/25, Saw Timber Drive (Moss Creek): A resident realized her Ford Mustang had been broken into after hearing her neighbor’s car was targeted. Thieves had also gone through her husband’s pickup truck, although no items were reported missing.

1/15/25, 95 Matthews Drive (Jiffy Lube): A Canon Rebel camera and spare lens, worth about $1,100 total, were reportedly nabbed from an unlocked vehicle parked at the Hilton Head business.

1/15/25, Chinaberry Lane (Chinaberry Ridge): An unlocked Ram pickup truck was broken into sometime in the early morning, police said. A wallet containing a half-dozen credit cards was taken from the parked vehicle on northwestern Hilton Head.

1/15/25, Cranberry Lane (Chinaberry Ridge): A wallet was stolen from a car’s glove box, a resident told the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. Surveillance video from around 2 a.m. picked up a suspect “wearing a ****** hoodie, dark pants, Nike backpack and a face covering” rifling through the vehicle, although the footage was too dark for police to make an identification.

1/16/25, Cardinal Road: A $350 TV and $550 soundbar were stolen from a parked semi-truck. Dashcam footage caught a suspect who was identified “based on previous interactions” with police, according to a sheriff’s office report. It was unknown whether the perpetrator was arrested.

1/16/25, 95 Mathews Drive (Former Sam’s Club parking lot): Thieves reportedly “cut a metal strap” into the back of a work van parked near the

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, taking seven eight high-voltage batteries, four battery chargers, a vacuum pump, a tank of air conditioner refrigerant and a tool bag. Altogether, the value of the stolen supplies likely exceeded $1,000.

1/17/25, Dillon Road (90 Dillon Apartments): A property manager told police “multiple vehicles” were broken into at the complex. As the interview continued, he updated the officer about “more and more” break-ins after he heard from more victims.

A sheriff’s office report notes at least three cars that were targeted, although nothing was stolen from those vehicles besides a parking permit.

Ring Doorbell footage captured four “possible male” suspects riding yellow bikes through the area, which were abandoned in the apartment complex and were later found to be stolen from the

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rental service.

One victim of theft at the apartments told police that one of his stolen items had an AirTag GPS device with a reported location of the Hilton Head Gardens apartments. The incident report says deputies were trying to “pull footage” from that complex to search for possible suspects.

1/17/25, North Port Royal Drive (Port Royal Plantation): An in-home nurse was working in the area when an unknown thief stole a semiautomatic Glock pistol and a $600 Cuetec pool cue from his unlocked vehicle, he told deputies.

1/17/25, Mathews Drive (Woodlake Villas): A resident of the gated community on northern Hilton Head said the belongings in his pickup had been “rummaged through” sometime in the early morning, but nothing was reported missing. A neighbor reported a theft of about $500 in tools and $20 in cash from his Ford SUV.

1/17/25, New Riverside Road (May River High School): A wallet stocked with credit cards and about $10 in cash was stolen from a Jeep Wrangler parked at the school during an evening basketball game, according to Bluffton Chief of Police Joseph Babkiewicz. Officers had not obtained surveillance footage of the reported theft as of Wednesday afternoon.

1/18/25, Timber Lane (Moss Creek): An unknown thief reportedly nabbed a purse from a minivan parked in a home garage, running off with an iPhone 16 Pro, a wallet containing $800 in cash, a handful of credit cards and two social security numbers written on scrap paper. Although the garage door had been closed, the resident told police the suspect likely got in through a back entrance that was left open.

1/19/25, Mathews Drive (Planet Fitness): A man entered the building to work out but left his Hyundai unlocked, he told deputies. Returning to his car, he “realized something was wrong when he saw his ballcap under his windshield wiper,” according to an incident report. The thief stole a week’s supply of three medications in his car, he said.

1/21/25, Pavins Place (The Crescent): A resident of the Bluffton-area gated community reported a SIG Sauer pistol stolen from his Ford Bronco. No surveillance cameras were observed in the area.

1/22/25, Bermuda Pointe Circle (Bermuda Pointe): A Kimber handgun was reported stolen from the waterfront gated community near the entrance to Hilton Head. The resident first noticed the theft because of snow inside the car that was “not from him.”

1/24/25, Simmonsville Road (Emerson Isles): A tenant at the Bluffton apartment complex found her front passenger window shattered inward when she walked outside to defrost her vehicle in the morning. About $300 in cash was stolen from the SUV and the theft was likely not captured on video, she told police.

1/24/25, Peninsula Drive (Moss Creek): Two unlocked cars parked at the same house were reportedly broken into overnight, with the glove boxes left open and items “thrown about” inside both. About $25 in cash was reported stolen from one vehicle.

1/24/25, Peninsula Drive (Moss Creek): A small fortune in belongings was reportedly taken from a Ford Mustang, including a radar detector worth about $500, a $200 pair of Costa glasses and a Bulova watch worth approximately $1,000.

The homeowner told police he wasn’t aware of any cameras in the vicinity, but he found a set of tire tracks in the snow on the driveway that could have come from the suspect’s vehicle. Because the family only wanted documentation of the stolen items, the case was administratively closed.

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