SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Dozens of families staying at hotels in Altamonte Springs and Maitland woke up to find car windows shattered and glass all over the parking lots.
Altamonte Springs Police confirm 55 vehicles were burglarized Sunday night at the Extended Stay America and Hilton Orlando/Altamonte at State Road 436 and Interstate 4.
Maitland Police said 14 cars were broken-into at the Extended Stay America and Courtyard by Marriott at Maitland Boulevard and I-4.
All four hotels are within five miles of each other along the I-4 corridor.
Maitland Police spokesman Lt. Louis Grindle said detectives are working with property management to "secure any possible video."
In most of the burglaries, side windows were smashed so quietly that no one heard it. Car alarms were never triggered.
Wade Forte is one of several families from North Carolina visiting Central Florida for a soccer tournament.
"We're getting up for 8 a.m. game and we come out here and there are multiple cars broken into," Forte said. "We got to the field and we found out there was a referee who got his car broken into at another hotel."
Forte said the smash and grabs ruined the vacation for many families.
“What was supposed to be a great opportunity to be down here between the holidays and beautiful sunny Florida isn’t,” Forte said.
Brian Adamski, from Pittsburgh, spent most of his day and several hundred dollars to have his side window repaired.
"It's just senseless, it's useless that this happened, it's such an inconvenience for everyone," Adamski said. "They'll take $3 and some change out of my car when if they would have walked by, if we would have seen them, we would have handed it to them."
Glass Installer “Dave” from The Auto Glass Store began repairing windows at 6 a.m. Monday.
“They’re costing people money constantly,” Dave said. “And some of the people have insurance but usually insurance doesn’t cover glass on the side. So they’re costing people money big time.”
Forte said several children on the soccer team are on financial assistance.
He and other coaches are taking up a collection for the families. Click here to donate.