Residents on high alert following wheel thefts in Baldwin Park

ORLANDO, Fla. — Some residents in the Baldwin Park community of Orlando are on high alert after thieves have stolen the tires off vehicles parked in residential areas.

Baldwin Park is usually a quiet neighborhood but recently some Jeep and Honda owners have woken up to find no tires on their vehicles.

"My car was on bricks. All my wheels and tires had been stripped," said victim Erin Brosius.

First the thieves took just the spare tire and less than two weeks later, all of the wheels were gone and the victim was out $8,000.

"I was parked under a light in the parking lot with really bright lights, so somebody has to be seeing this," said Brosius.

A letter was sent out warning residents after numerous tire thefts were reported.

"It's a shame that we can't park our cars on the street in front of our own homes without the tires being taken off our cars, old or new," said resident Carleen Fuentes.

Channel 9 learned it could take thieves less than 60 seconds to remove all of the tires from a vehicle.

"You're not going to have a one-man show. It's going to be three, four guys, and get in and out faster than I did it," said Joe Turley, owner of Orlando Import Auto Specialists.

Police said they've added extra patrols in Baldwin Park at the request of some apartment complex management. There's no word if any of the wheel thefts have been caught on surveillance cameras.

WFTV