Hello, Navajo and College Area!
Not many people say they move to a neighborhood because they want to live in a high-crime area, so saying that our decision to move to San Carlos was partly because it is a safe neighborhood is a bit trite.
That said, over the years, one of the more persistent petty crimes in our San Carlos ‘hood has been car prowls.
While I consider myself lucky if this is the extent of our worries, over the years we, and some of our neighbors, have been hit by so-called car prowlers. In one case, we woke up to find our license plate was missing — it was found on a stolen Subaru Forester on the other side of town. And, like a dummy, I have left our car doors unlocked at night and have come to the car to find the glove compartment open and the contents spread out on the floorboard.
Other neighbors have had similar incidents — throw in a stolen catalytic converter or two.
But one of our goals at Times of San Diego is to break down city data on a community level. For this week, we wanted to dig in on the number of car prowls in the Navajo neighborhoods of Grantville, Del Cerro, Lake Murray, Allied Gardens and San Carlos.
First, the good news. Car break-ins, at least those reported to police, have dropped annually since 2022, from 398 reported car prowls reported in 2022 to 228 last year.
From January of this year through Sept. 22 (the most recent data available), San Diego police received 198 reports of vehicle break-ins.
Now, however, the not-so-good news. While the number overall in the Navajo has dropped, certain communities have seen a spike.
Grantville is one of those. Since 2022, Grantville has had the most vehicle break-in reports, likely due to the area being densely populated, at least compared to San Carlos, Del Cerro and less so Allied Gardens.
However, this year police received 72 reports, already surpassing 2025’s total of 59.
San Carlos also has seen a spike since 2025. The community now has the second-most reports out of the five main Navajo communities for car prowls.
As for which block has the most reported break-ins, that not-so-illustrious award goes to the 4500 block of Mission Gorge Place with 12 reports this year; the 6100 block of Fairmont Avenue holds the second spot with eight.
Dorian Hargrove
Mission Times newsletter host
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