FENTON, Mo. — An Amazon employee calls what happened early Friday morning at the Fenton distribution center "frightening and frustrating."
The 23-year-old employee, who asked 5 On Your Side to not disclose her identity, said a dashcam in her car caught a desperate crook breaking into her vehicle.
"It shows him when he's in my car, climbing through the window, rummaging through my center console and just through all my stuff. It's so frustrating and just an invasion of privacy," she said.
St. Louis County police said the woman's car and several others were broken into around 4 a.m. at the Amazon facility on Assembly Parkway, the site of the former Chrysler vehicle assembly plant.
"We go out for lunchtime, and we just see a bunch of glass on the ground everywhere," she said.
She then said about a dozen more locked vehicles on the same employee parking lot were hit overnight Saturday.
"They just stole a vape pen from me, so I'm one of the lucky ones," she added.
However, police said other victims weren't so lucky — cash, purses and wallets were also stolen. A gun was stolen from one of the vehicles on the Fenton lot.
Another Amazon distribution facility on Premiere Parkway in St. Peters also saw several vehicle break-ins. Police said 32 vehicles were broken into on October 26, and similar items were taken from six of them.
Across the Mississippi River in Sauget, Illinois, police said on Thursday, vandals smashed about a dozen car windows at a FedEx facility on Vincent Drive near St. Louis Downtown Airport.
In a statement, a FedEx spokesman said "safety is a top priority at FedEx Ground and we are cooperating with law enforcement as they investigate this, and similar incidents that have been occurring in the vicinity," adding the company is taking steps to enhance security at the facility.
For their part, police are now trying to figure out if the car break-ins are connected.
"I'm very glad no one was hurt — super glad no one ended up going outside when all that happened. I just hope these people get call and all these break-ins stop," said the Fenton Amazon employee.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company is working with local law enforcement and plans to increase security at the facilities.