People in one North Miami Beach community are so fed up with crime, they're arming themselves.
"To us, our families are more important," said community activist Yona Lunger. "A lot of them are getting concealed weapons permits... We don't have a choice."
Lunger's community, near Golden Glades interchange, collects and distributes clothes for needy people. Most of the clothing is specifically for Orthodox Jewish women.
On Wednesday morning somebody went into the collection room, located inside a woman's home, and stole bags filled with donated clothes.
"Close to 600 to 700 items are gone, I mean they cleaned us out," said Lunger.
The area is seeing an uptick in crime, according to Lunger.
"I think we had a rash, more than a dozen break-ins in the past week ... break- ins and strong armed robberies," he said.
Police are well aware of the incidents and have increased their presence in the area. Several families are footing the bill for private security patrols.
Lunger said police have made several arrests in the connection to the break-ins. But the crime spree is the talk of the neighborhood.
Lunger is hoping the topic of conversation changes soon.
"We all got to get along, we all got to work with each other, this is a little bit out of hand," Lunger said.
