Thrailkill Garage Hit With Multiple Break-Ins

Twenty-two cars on the first floor of the Thrailkill Garage were broken into early Tuesday morning.

CCTV cameras surrounding the area captured two suspects, one driving a dark-colored sedan through the garage and another repeatedly exiting the car and entering other vehicles and taking items, either through opening unlocked doors or breaking windows between 3:41-4:05 a.m., according to Campus Security.

“It’s something that we work very actively to minimize from happening,” said Campus Security Chief Mark Labbé. He said that the security cameras were a “reactive tool, not a proactive tool,” and that it was not possible for the cameras to be watched 24 hours a day.

Labbé confirmed that Campus Security pulled the temporary tag from the vehicle and sent the information to local law enforcement.

Labbé described the number of break-ins as being in the “average range” based on trends in Nashville and other universities, and said break-ins like this are more common during periods where more people are on campus, such as move-in or other large events.

“The people who do this are aware of when students come back and that there’s potentially valuable things in their cars because they’re not done moving in and things like that,” he said. “They’re smart. It would be nice if they used their intelligence for other things, but they pay attention to when schools are moving back in.”

There were increased security measures in place because of the trend of early-year break-ins, said Labbé.

The previous instance of vehicle break-ins on campus was from Sept. 24, 2024, in which one unlocked vehicle was stolen, and five more unlocked vehicles were rummaged through from the Hillside surface parking lot, according to Campus Security.

“I think what they do is they go to garages that are easily accessible to public roads,” Labbé said. “Either Hillside or Thrailkill is typically the one where we see this happen, so that’s why we do bulk up our security and why we do additional patrols.”

The suspects timed their break-ins well, entering the garage moments after a patrolling officer left and exited the garage moments before another arrived.

“You can’t immediately notice anything suspicious about just a vehicle driving in at three in the morning until they start committing crimes in the garage, and then an officer came through minutes later after it was over,” he said.

Some students who typically park in the Thrailkill Garage expressed concern about the safety of their vehicles.

“I’d like to park somewhere else, I want to ask about that,” said sophomore Belmont student Logan Rosepiler. “Mine wasn’t, but the car next to me was broken into. I got back and the guy was on the phone, luckily, he didn’t have anything valuable in there.”

While it may be more common for break-ins to occur during the university’s opening weeks, it can make for a poor first impression for newcomers.

“I’ll probably find somewhere else to park,” said Machaela Berry, a freshman Belmont student. “I just got here and I’m still moving in, so it makes me a little nervous. I didn’t even know that this was the garage they were talking about in the email until I saw the glass.”

It is important to stay vigilant and follow protocols regarding vehicle safety throughout the school year.

“If they were successful—say they grabbed a bunch of expensive things—they would come right back trying to do it again,” Labbé said.

Campus Security will increase patrols and make efforts to have a more visible presence in the area, said Labbé.

Car with broken windows parked in Thrailkill Garage. Photo taken by Nick Rampe.

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This article was written by Nick Rampe with contributory reporting by Matt Sinofsky