Detectives have connected 39-year-old Christopher M. Hyler to at least one smash-and-grab car burglary in the Hidden Springs area earlier this spring and identified him as a person of interest in several others.
Hyler is charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor petit theft in connection two incidents the night of May 7, where someone stole several boxes from in front of a home on North Barn Owl Way — and broke a car window and stole a purse and other items from inside a locked car parked on North 9th Avenue.
Detectives developed evidence linking Hyler to both crimes, including video surveillance footage and finding items taken from the car burglary on May 7 in his vehicle earlier this week. Detectives also found several burglary tools in Hyler’s car.
The car burglary Hyler is charged for is very similar to over a dozen other smash-and-grab car burglaries reported in Hidden Springs, Avimor, and the North Boise Foothills neighborhoods since April 8.
In all those cases, burglars smashed open car and truck windows to steal purses, backpacks, computers, athletic shoes, binoculars, cash, and other valuable items left inside locked cars and trucks — but visible from the outside.
In one of the burglaries, thieves broke into a car and stole a wallet, and then used the garage door opener to get inside and steal a bike.
All the burglaries happened overnight. Cars and trucks were parked in driveways.
Cases like these are why we urge people to take all their valuable items out of their cars and into their homes.
It sure doesn’t seem fair that your own driveway might not be the safest place for your stuff. That being said, it’s just a good idea to take your valuables – especially purses, wallets, backpacks, and guns — out of the car and into your locked house. Why risk it?
Detectives are continuing to investigate those cases. Additional charges filed against Hyler are possible.
Anyone with information about the break-ins should call Ada County dispatch at (208) 377-6790 or send an email to [email protected]