IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — A string of car thefts at an Irondequoit apartment complex have left neighbors fearing for their safety.

Neighbors are fed up and say for the past year, multiple cars have been broken into at the Woodridge Apartments complex where they live in Irondequoit, and say building management has done nothing to help stop this from happening.

Katherine Dalay tried to stop thieves from stealing her neighbor Denise Alessi’s car. Dalay says she was scared off when thieves pulled out a gun.

Katherine Dalay: “It was pretty scary.”

Marsha Augustin, News10NBC: “What did you do when you saw that?”

Katherine Dalay: “I got behind another car to keep myself safe.”

Irondequoit Police said five cars were recently stolen from Woodridge, four of them just this month. Officers say they are seeing an uptick in cars being stolen from apartment complexes. Some of the stolen cars have been involved in armed robberies, a person hit by a car, and other crimes.

Dalay’s car was stolen Sunday night.

“I was very upset, sadly I kind of thought it was going to happen. Because they keep hitting our parking lot over and over, so I was kind of like a sitting duck with the car there,” Dalay said.

IPD says many apartment complexes have dark secluded parking areas, which helps thieves go unnoticed. Dalay recommended more lighting in the parking lot to building management.

“They just kind of said it’s happening everywhere, there’s really not much they can do about it,” Dalay said.

Denise Alessi’s car is typically parked in a parking spot, which is now empty. That’s because when she came downstairs on August 5, she didn’t find her car. She found a pile of broken glass.

“I couldn’t believe the car was gone, even though I knew it probably was — it just wasn’t registering they finally got my car. … This was the third attempt on my car and the second time my neighbor here, she saw them, went outside and confronted them and they pulled a gun on her. And then hit another neighbor with their car after they took off stealing the cars,” Alessi said.

Alessi says she feels violated and unsafe. She says she got her Kia upgraded with anti-theft and a steering wheel lock. And still, she had her car stolen. When it was recovered, they found the wheel lock broken off and thrown in the back seat.

“And I’m afraid to get my car back when it is all fixed and like brand new. What’s going to happen, is it going to get stolen again? It’s like a sitting duck out here — should we sleep in our cars?” Alessi said.

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