Rash of smash and grabs in South Lake Tahoe Monday

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A rash of vehicle burglaries occurred on the South Shore Monday, both in California and Nevada.

South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) responded to six "smash and grabs" between Whole Foods and Stateline within a 90-minute period on January 31. In the same time frame, deputies from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office responded to three.

It appears the same two cars are involved in the SLTPD cases, one is registered in the Bay Area and the other is a rental car. Each case has the same description of the suspects as well. It is unknown at this time if the Douglas County cases involved the same vehicle description. They also responded to two other cases on the previous night at Stateline.

SLTPD Sgt. Nick Carlquist said their cases all involved the same MO, or modus operandi. The suspects drove around a parking lot, looking for potential victims. The owners of the vehicles had left items of value that were visible, and the suspect smashed the window, took the items, and left the scene quickly. The occurred at several locations including the Chase Bank parking lot, the parking area in front of Starbucks at Stateline, at the Stardust, and at a ski rental shop on Ski Run Blvd.

The cases are under investigation and detectives from the SLTPD are following multiple leads. If anyone has information on these cases they are asked to call detectives at 530.542.6100.