San Antonio officials are lobbying the State Legislature to increase penalties for car burglaries, asking Gov. Greg Abbott to pass two bills that would upgrade the misdemeanor offense to a felony including for first-time offenders.
Officials hope the change deters potential suspects from breaking into vehicles, making neighborhoods safer. However, advocates and criminal justice officials say increasing criminal penalties won’t make a difference in the reported number of cars broken into.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has linked car burglaries in San Antonio to weapon trafficking— notably busting more than 200 stolen guns in August.
San Antonio ranks fifth in the U.S. for firearm thefts stolen from cars, according to researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at the Houston School of Public Health who analyzed 2022 FBI NIBRS data.
More recent statistics reported by local law enforcement show car burglaries in San Antonio were down in 2024.
There was a 10% decrease in burglaries in 2024 compared to 2023: 12,668 people reported their vehicles stolen last year, compared to 19,409 people in 2023.
And theft offenses including motor vehicle thefts have also decreased by more than 7%, according to the latest SAPD crime stat report.
House Bill 727
On March 11, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar spoke in support of House Bill 727 at a Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence hearing at the Capitol.
The bill, authored by State Rep. Phillip Cortez, who represents West San Antonio where crime surged in some areas last year, increases a car burglary to a felony if someone breaks into a car while in possession of a gun, steals one during the burglary, or uses a stolen car to commit the burglary, or uses multiple vehicles.
“We’re seeing this increasingly becoming a violent crime because of the introduction of weapons that unfortunately, are being left in vehicles on a nightly basis,” Salazar told the committee.
“They’re not breaking in for spare change… they are strictly looking for guns,” he said. “It is now pretty common that these burglars will then steal a gun and continue to carry that gun.”
According to the San Antonio Bike Patrol Division, more than 15 cars were broken into at a publicly owned parking lot at the intersection of Jefferson and Pecan streets during Fiesta last year, raising the concern that visitors may not want to return downtown.
On March 15, five cars in Alamo Heights were broken into and then on Thursday there were seven more car burglaries. One resident whose car was targeted told KSAT burglars took a BB gun from her vehicle.
“The problem that we have now when it’s only a misdemeanor, is that it’s a slap on the wrist and you’re likely not going to serve jail time,” said Trish DeBerry, CEO of Centro San Antonio which manages the public improvement district in downtown. “They’re scouting parking lots and scouting garages thinking, ‘I’m going to get away with this, even if I’m caught.’”
House Bill 548
Centro San Antonio, with the San Antonio Police Officer’s Association and the Combined Law Enforcement Agency of Texas, has been soliciting signatures for a petition to present at the legislature supporting HB 548 to increase penalties for car burglars.
“According to recent data from the SAPD, there were 429 car burglaries across the city in just one month—from December 24, 2023, to January 22, 2024. That’s roughly 14 burglaries every single day,” Centro San Antonio said in an email to its community asking for their signature. “In downtown San Antonio alone, there were 60 incidents during that same period — about two every day.”
More than 300 people signed the petition within two weeks, DeBerry said. It’s the first time Centro has rolled out a petition to support a bill.
“We have people coming into garages, breaking into cars all the time. We’re not just making this stuff up. It is a problem, particularly in downtown,” she said. “When you’ve got big events, you’ve got people that aren’t paying attention when they park. For professional rings, it becomes an opportunity for them.”
The City of San Antonio registered support for HB 727 to increase penalties for car burglaries.
A closer look into who is committing these crimes shows a large portion are offenders under the age of 21, according to downtown public safety officers.
In Texas, it means even juveniles committing car burglaries can be charged with a felony, said Judge William “Cruz” Shaw III, who presides over the 436th Juvenile District Court and handles cases involving kids ages 10-16.
“If the laws change, I’m not sure if we’ll see a big difference or a decline in the amount of burglaries we have in vehicles,” he said. “If it is a felony, on the juvenile side, we’ll have more options to rehabilitate the individual or send them to prison.”
In San Antonio, it means kids in his courtroom will go to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department— essentially a prison for kids.
If it’s not a felony, the juvenile could get probation at home or at a lockdown facility in the care of the probation officer in Bexar County.
Community advocate and leader of Big Mama’s Safe House, said stricter laws don’t decrease crime, but increase the number of people incarcerated. What can help is funding community programs that address the root causes of these types of crime, he said.
“It’s not a deterrent, I’ll tell you why; Because kids don’t have a value for life or their freedom,” he said. “The kids committing these crimes are because they don’t have the tools to gain knowledge and wisdom.”
“We ought to look for other unconventional ways, such as grassroots organizations, to address root causes and I think that will have an impact on our youth,” Price said.
Besides securely storing guns, researchers suggest local elected officials and law enforcement should focus on distributing free gun safes, while legislators should create laws that mandate gun owners immediately report stolen and lost guns.
Both bills were introduced in November and were left pending in the committee.
