The last time Jessica Rife drove to a movie theater was Memorial Day 2007.
She went to see the opening of "Pirates Of The Caribbean." Her night of relaxation ended when she returned to her car.
"(I) came out of the movie and my window was busted out," Rife said. "It makes me mad to think that you can't come to a movie theater to enjoy yourself without thinking this might happen."
WEB EXTRA: Check Crimes Around Movie Theaters
CrimeTracker 10's Angela An investigated hundreds of cases from 20 central Ohio movie theaters and found the biggest crime occurring in and around the movie theaters involves car break-ins.
At least 40 break-ins occurred at AMC Lennox Town Center, located at 777 Kinnear Rd., near Upper Arlington. Police reports showed there were also reports of four fights; four juvenile complaints; three assaults; and 19 reports of suspicious cars or people, An reported.
Clinton Township police recently set up a sting outside Lennox and scanned the parking lot from above with highly-trained officers. Officers scoped out people who take advantage of moviegoers.
"You've got a set of cars that sit there for 3- to 4 hours while someone is in the movie theater," said Clinton Township police Lt. Anthony Pfeifer. "It's a good opportunity."
According to Pfeifer, most of the recent car break-ins occurred between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.
CrimeTracker 10 also found dozens of other crimes at central Ohio's movie theaters.
At Marcus Cinemas-Pickerington, located at 1776 Hill Road N., there was a police report filed of a sexual offense. Another report involved a man with a gun.
At downtown's Arena Grand Movie Theater, located at 175 W. Nationwide Blvd., a theater worker was robbed at gunpoint. Another time involved a man who was caught crawling under movie seats and looking through personal items.
A report was filed at Screens At The Continent, located at 6360 Busch Blvd., claiming that someone used Mace inside the theater and struck a small child in the eye.
Clinton Township police said that they would continue their patrols outside Lennox in hopes of stopping car break-ins.
"If we don't today, we'll keep coming back," Pfeifer said.
Because some movie theaters are located in strip malls, not all theater crimes are logged under the movie theater address, An reported.
Some car break-ins also involved people who did not go to the movies but instead visited a nearby business.
Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for additional information.
