Police: 800 guns stolen from metro Atlanta cars this year

Thieves who broke into 50 vehicles in Midtown recently wanted weapons, Atlanta police said.

More than 800 guns have been taken from cars this year, police said, and 15 guns were stolen from cars parked in two lots on Peachtree Street Tuesday night.

Atlanta spokesman Sgt. Warren Pickard said this incident sounds like a rash of break-ins last week, where 70 cars were targeted .

Last week, suspects fanned out and randomly broke into cars they passed while another car waited nearby.

“What we have found is that the vehicle is continuously moving, while the other people are out knocking windows,” Pickard told Channel 2 Action News.

The city of Brookhaven saw a record number of cars broken into in September and metro Atlanta police departments continue to warn residents to lock cars and hide valuables.