St. Augustine police investigating smash-and-grabs targeting rental cars

St. Augustine police are looking for the suspect behind a rash of smash-and-grabs.

The break-ins happened during the day at Ocean Hammock Park, off A1A.

Car windows were smashed, and hundreds of dollars’ worth of stuff was stolen.

“These weren’t Florida residents that were being targeted,” victim Tracy Cowden said.

The cars all had one thing in common.

“The cars that were hit, to my understanding, were out-of-town rental cars,” Cowden said.

Cowden was visiting from Tennessee with her husband and friend.

“We were devastated because we had such a great time and for it to be ruined by that,” Cowden said.

It was her friend’s last trip before she goes completely blind due to glaucoma.

“She was trying to see as much as she could,” Cowden said.

Besides their purses and wallets that were taken, the thief also stole pictures of her grandchildren.

“They’re irreplaceable. They will be gone forever,” Cowden said.

More than two days after the break-ins happened, shattered glass was still on the ground.

The cars were parked near each other in the front portion of the parking lot.

“I collect seashells and sea glass and I walked up to the car and was like look at the pretty, green glass then was like wow they broke into the car,” victim, Patti Daly said.

Daly and her husband are visiting from California and left their car for about 10 minutes.

“Ten minutes is all it takes. I mean we didn’t think anything was going to happen,” victim, James Daly said.

With everything in her purse gone, she is hoping she will be able to make it back home.

“My passport was in there, my wallet and California ID and credit cards,” Daly said.

St. Augustine Beach police said some of the victim’s items were found Wednesday in a landfill, but the money was gone.

Police said in the past six months, there have only been 12 vehicle burglaries throughout the city.

Cox Media Group