MACON, Ga. — You probably know somebody whose car has been broken into, or maybe it's happened to you.
Katie Sollenberger, from Macon, says she didn't think it would happen to her, until early Wednesday morning.
“We moved here at the end of July,” Sollenberger said.
Moving can be like a breath of fresh air, especially when breathing is hard for her.
“This is my 5th time going through chemo," she said. "I've been having to use oxygen on and off.”
So while work may be irregular, Sollenberger says trips to the hospital are common.
“My boyfriend ended up taking me to the emergency room,” she said.
She had trouble breathing Tuesday night and was discharged around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“We weren’t exactly thinking coherently at 2 a.m.,” she explained. “I was still in a lot of pain. My boyfriend was trying to get me inside safely. We're really good at locking the doors on our car, but with everyone going on this one time we didn't."
The next morning, Sollenberger had trouble breathing for a different reason.
“My backpack, and my purse, and everything in it were in the car. I had asked Avery to go out to the car,” she said.
Avery, Sollenberger’s 10-year-old daughter said when she went outside, she was shocked.
“I saw that the [car] door was open," Avery said.
The news hit Sollenberger.
“I was shocked at first. I saw that the glove box was open. My backpack was completely gone, my purse was completely gone, the things in my trunk were completely gone,” Sollenberger said.
She says almost $8,000 worth of stuff was stolen, including cash to pay bills and her medication.
“It was a feeling of brokeness. Especially with things being so tight due to having to miss work with my health,” she said.
Sollenberger called the Bibb Sheriff’s office and talked to a deputy.
“The first words out of his mouth were, ‘They hit you too?' We found out at that time that they were caught on camera in a neighboring neighborhood. Four juveniles, wearing hoodies and white gloves were coming to these neighborhoods,” she explained.
Sollenberger says the deputy told her thieves hit more cars in her neighborhood and others.
In just the last two weeks, there have been 25 car break-ins in Macon-Bibb according to the Bibb Sheriff's Daily Crime Reports.
There were 27 two weeks before that.
“I should be able to feel safe and that feeling of not being able to provide for her [Avery], it was a feeling of brokenness,” Sollenberger said.
She's working on replacing the money and medication, but she just wants to catch her breath.
“Trying to get back on our feet and move forward, but also trying to raise awareness and help other people while we do.”
The Sheriff's office says no further details are available at this time.
Some common sense tips on preventing car break-ins include:
Take your car keys and valuable items out of the car or keep them out of sight.
Always know your car's license plate and vehicle identification number.
You can also purchase immobilizing devices or a car recovery system in case your car gets stolen, or possibly catch the thief in the act.