Thieves targeted seven vehicles at five different residences in the upscale Cedar Bend Drive area of Waterloo early Wednesday morning.

The windows of three vehicles were broken and three had been left unlocked. A seventh vehicle was entered using a stolen key.

After several cars had been broken into, the suspects used garage door openers to enter garages, and at one residence the home itself was entered.

At that home, the victim's identification, major credit cards and a vehicle key was taken in order to steal the vehicle.

Angela Schnurr and her husband were among the victims of the thieves, who tried to pry open one of their vehicles and smashed the window of another.

But they didn't get further than that, Scnhurr says, because "Well it was actually my parents' car, so the opener that was in the car didn't actually work for our home…but that's what they were hoping."

Waterloo Regional Police spokesperson Olaf Heinzel says "We have numerous officers working on this. We are working with other police agencies. Many of these types of incidents are not limited to Waterloo Region."

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 519-653-7700 Ext. 3399 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Similar pattern repeated

This isn't the first time this type of incident has happened.

Selma Fernandez describes what happened when she and her husband were targeted by thieves early Saturday morning.

"They got in through the garage door. They took the control remote from my husband's car, they opened the garage door, they took my house keys from my car that was inside the garage. They opened the house, they break-in and they took my purse with my wallet."

Fernandez says they took cash, $4,000 worth of camera equipment, a cell phone and an SUV that later turned up in the Greater Toronto Area.

"They found it in Toronto Monday night…with extensive front damage and a flat tire."

Two other people in the same neighbourhood have had their SUVs stolen, one about a month ago, which is when the series of break-ins seems to have started in Waterloo's Clair Hills and Upper Beechwood neighbourhoods.

Police are reminding all residents to secure their vehicles and avoid storing valuables in them.