San Antonio agencies push two bills to make vehicle burglary a felony, addressing rising crime concerns.
SAN ANTONIO — Two house bills proposed by several San Antonio agencies are pushing for the same thing – turning a burglary of a vehicle from a misdemeanor to a felony.
According to data from the San Antonio Police Department, provided by Centro San Antonio, between Dec. 24, 2023 and Jan. 22, 2024, there were 429 car burglaries city-wide, with 60 reports in downtown San Antonio alone.
Centro San Antonio, along with the San Antonio Police Officer’s Association (SAPOA), and the Combined Law Enforcement Agency of Texas (CLEAT) are pushing for House Bill 548. The bill would upgrade a car theft from a misdemeanor to a felony right from the first offense.
“Criminalizing burglary of a vehicle should be something that has harsher penalties, and we should not be normalizing that behavior by making it only misdemeanor offense,” said Trish DeBerry, CEO and President of Centro SA. “Even if you are a first time offender, automatic jail time. If you don’t think that serves as a deterrent. I’m not sure what does.”
Under House Bill 548, subsequent offenses would be upgraded to second-degree and third-degree felonies, respectively.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office has a similar bill it’s backing. House Bill 727 has stipulations of when the charges could be upgraded to a felony, including if you break into a car while possessing a gun, if you steal a gun during the burglary, if you use a stolen car to commit the burglary or if you use multiple cars in the same act or other crimes.
“Over the years, however, we’re seeing this increasingly become not just a property crime,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar testified. “It’s increasingly becoming a violent crime. Homeowners have been shot as they come out to investigate a bump in the night. And in some instances, suspects have been shot by homeowners. And so we’re hoping to just bring an end to it all by addressing this.”
At one point a car theft was a felony in Texas, but was downgraded to a misdemeanor.
In a statement, Bexar County Sheriff’s Office regarding the bill said:
While current data suggests that vehicular burglary incidents are on a downward trend, it is important to recognize that this pattern can shift quickly. Historically, we have seen upticks in vehicle burglaries during certain times of the year, such as the summer months and the holiday season, when increased travel, shopping, and outdoor activities create more opportunities for criminals. Therefore, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office remains dedicated to ongoing crime prevention efforts and continues to promote awareness to help reduce the risk of potential spikes in these offenses.
Deberry wants to see a change.
“Listen, if we can collectively work together on both the bills to be able to accomplish what we want to be able to accomplish and make sure that people think twice before they break into that car? Then we’ll achieve what we need to,” she said.
Both bills are making their way through the Texas State House. If either passes, it would go into effect Sept. 1.