A rash of car break-ins in a concentrated area early Thursday morning has authorities on high alert in the city.

In a 1-mile radius there were 17 cars entered and one stolen, according to Covington Police Captain Ken Malcom, and more are expected to be reported. The areas hit were the Covington Place neighborhood, south Dearing Street, Ashley Drive, Forest Drive, Farmington Lane, Golfside Drive, Brooks Cove and Fairway Lane. 

The stolen car was located at an apartment complex in DeKalb County. Inside it law enforcement officials found a gun that was reported missing from a different home in the plagued area. 

All vehicles that had items missing had been left unlocked. Thus far, wallets, credit cards and guns have been reported stolen from the burglarized vehicles. In some cases there were multiple vehicles at a property. The ones unlocked had items stolen; the ones locked appeared undisturbed.

“The crime of entering autos periodically will occur like this, where someone will work an entire neighborhood and walk up and down the driveways and look for empty vehicles,” said Malcom. “We feel like that’s what has happened here, and that there was probably more then one person working together… they covered a lot of ground.”

Malcom urged residents to lock their doors since it appears the thieves simply walked past cars and tried the doors. If they were locked, they moved on.

Police are canvassing the area and speaking with neighbors in an attempt to find witnesses to the thefts. Anyone with information is asked to contact the CPD tip line at (770) 385-6430 or online at www.covingtonpolice.com or through the tipsubmit mobile app. All tips can be given anonymously.