Criminals targeting people along Butler Trail in Austin

Jul 03, 2023

criminals targeting people on Butler Trail

by: Nabil Remadna

Posted: Jan 27, 2023 / 07:30 AM CST

Updated: Jan 27, 2023 / 12:04 PM CST

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Criminals are taking advantage of people along Lady Bird Lake, according to data from the Austin Police Department crime maps.

The APD crime maps show parking lots near the Butler Hike and Bike Trail are popular places for car burglaries.

Data shows since Nov. 1, 2022, there were 21 reported car burglaries in the public parking lot near ZACH Theatre. Additionally, there were 11 car burglaries in the area around Austin High School.

"It was pretty alarming seeing the broken glass," said Zoe Sather, who was out for a walk with her family.

The parking lot she parked in is next to the Lamar Bridge and ZACH Theatre. On Wednesday, shattered glass could be seen in at least four parking spaces.

"Makes me worry about leaving my car in the parking lot which kinda sucks," said Rakim Aleem, who was out for a walk.

KXAN visited three popular parking lots near the trail and found broken glass in many spaces.

"I think it is important that people feel safe in this city," said newly elected Councilmember Zohaib Qadri.

Qadri said public safety is one of his top priorities, and he gave some ideas on how to improve safety at the trail.

"Staffing and payment and better taking care of our first responders will go a long way in combating a lot of that," Qadri said. "Improvements on lighting and maybe even adding some sort of security cameras, making sure we are able to combat these instances."

These are improvements trail users said they want to see soon.

"It deters people away when they see the glass," Sather said. "I just don't want it to ruin this spot because it is nice. Especially if you have kids."

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