Thieves left a trail of litter and shredded convertible tops in their wake as they went on a car burglary spree early Friday morning through a northern Fort Lauderdale neighborhood.
About 15 cars were struck between Northeast 16th and 20th streets just west of U.S. 1 -- with the bandits either slipping in through unlocked doors or cutting through convertible roofs.
But strangely, the burglars took mostly loose change and small trinkets -- passing over higher-end electronics, like Debbie Wright's laptop computer, which was not stolen, despite being left in the open.
''I feel violated,'' said Wright, whose BMW Z4 was sliced open.
Fort Lauderdale police have made no arrests but suspect the assailants could be young or inexperienced thieves, said Detective Kathy Collins, a Fort Lauderdale Police spokeswoman.
Residents of the area, known as Poinsettia Heights, consider the neighborhood safe and often leave their doors unlocked.
Before dawn Friday, thieves broke that trust.
Using a knife or some other sharp object, they opened up convertible tops to gain entry. They also rifled through the glove compartments of several cars, leaving trash on the ground as they moved on to their next target.
In addition to the change, they stole an iPod from one car and a radar detector from another.
''They took things they could easily carry,'' Collins said. ``They caused all kinds of damage.''
Wright said about $2 in change was taken, but it will cost her thousands of dollars to replace the roof of her 3-year-old car.
