NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) -- Officers in the Bellevue area spent much of Wednesday morning taking reports of vehicle break-ins and weapons thefts at two motels near Interstate 40.
At the Hampton Inn, auto glass was found in piles around the parking lot where the suspects struck overnight. As a result, a glass repair truck was at the scene on Wednesday, Sept. 25, fixing windshields.
Kali Prinz, who is moving to Bellevue from Baltimore, stood in the rear parking lot with her father. Her passenger side window was smashed out.
"Someone broke into it, I guess. I came out and the window was smashed and I have dents all in my car. Yeah, I've never had this happen to me, even living in Baltimore," Kali said.
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Her father, Karl Prinz, questioned the safety of this West Nashville community for his daughter.
"Every guest that's came down after us has been in shock that they are experiencing what we experienced. You wake up in the morning and your window is smashed," Karl said, adding that he saw at least six or seven cars broken into, all in the same smash-and-grab manner.
The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed that multiple weapons were stolen in the overnight spree.
According to an Alabama man whose truck was among those damaged, "There's not a lot you can do about it. They got something better to do -- they could find a daggum job."
At the Comfort Inn & Suites on Old Hickory Boulevard, also near I-40, there were many more vehicle break-ins.
While at this location, a young woman about to drive back to Texas discovered her car window was shattered. She was overcome with grief.
"I was about to go home to Texas," she said. "I have a 12-hour drive ahead of me."
As News 2's Andy Cordan was speaking with this distraught victim, another woman preparing to leave asked what he was doing. When Cordan told her he was covering vehicle break-ins, she suddenly realized she was also a victim.
"Where's your car?" Cordan asked.
"Right there," she answered.
"Well, so far, so good. See all the glass everywhere?" Cordan said as he and the woman approached her car, pointing out the other damaged vehicles around the lot until he noticed the car in question. "Uh oh."
"Uh uh," the woman said before she gasped at the sight of the missing window on her vehicle.
"Oh ma'am, is this your car?" Cordan asked.
"Yes," she said.
"I'm so sorry," Cordan replied.
"No," the woman exclaimed before resting her elbows on the car's windowsill and putting her head in her hands.
"I am so sorry," Cordan said as he checked out the damage. "It looks like they went through stuff."
News 2 spoke with a Texas grandfather whose truck window was also shattered. The senior was wearing a firearm on his hip as he talked to MNPD officers.
"This is what happens when you have a liberal-led town," he said.
When asked what would have happened if he came down to the parking lot amid the break-ins, the man said he doesn't talk about that
"I think I can figure it out," Cordan said.
"What happens happens," the grandfather replied.
MNPD urges people to take valuables -- especially firearms -- with them when parking in public places, as well as lock the vehicle's doors and remove the keys.
"So far this year, 653 guns have been stolen from vehicles in Nashville, 16 were taken from autos just last week. The total number of guns stolen this year in Davidson County is 911, which means that 71% of guns stolen so far in 2024 have been taken from automobiles," the department said in a Wednesday afternoon statement about a teen arrested amid an ongoing auto burglary investigation. "Going hand in hand with vehicle burglaries is vehicle theft. Too many automobiles remain easy targets because keys are left inside or made available to thieves. Just like guns taken from vehicles, these stolen autos are also routinely involved in criminal activities, including carjackings and robberies."
Police were still compiling reports Wednesday to see how many cars were broken into and how many guns were stolen during the overnight spree at the I-40 motels.