It’s the third car break-in suffered by CNN reporter Kyung Lah in the Bay Area, though the smash-and-grab her rental car endured Wednesday was just a smash, as there was nothing in the car to grab.

CNN national correspondent Kyung Lah recorded a segment last week at a San Francisco Richmond District Walgreens entitled “CNN witnesses 3 alleged thefts in 30 minutes while reporting on shoplifting.” And Lah has some firsthand experience with crime in the Bay Area, as her crew’s car was broken into at City Hall in March, and another one of her crew's rental cars suffered the same fate months later while recording a segment in Oakland.

Now make that three car break-ins for Kyung Lah and her CNN crew. KTVU reports that Lah’s rental car was broken into a third time in the Bay Area, according to tweets that Lah herself posted Wednesday.

“I’m [in] #Oakland, shooting a story about crime. Got broken into again— but this time our car was completely empty. We were across the street— this happened in seconds,” she tweeted Wednesday afternoon.

She’s obviously becoming experienced at this, and is now giving advice to counter the thieves’ tactics. “Even tho the car is empty, the thieves break in and lower the seat so they can steal anything in the trunk. Our trunk was empty,” she added. “If you come to San Francisco or Oakland, do not leave a single thing in your car.”

While national news crews may get more attention over their own break-ins, Bay Area visitors across the board are seeing their cars broken into. Lah notes a stunning pattern.  “At the rental car return lot, the employee tells us of the 250 cars returned yesterday, 27 had been broken into, just more than 10% of cars returned,” she said.

According to KTVU, Oakland has recorded nearly 6,500 automobile-related break-ins thus far in 2023, which represents a full 25% increase compared to this point last year.

Related: KPIX Reporter and Cameraman Robbed at Gunpoint at Twin Peaks [SFist]

Image: @KyungLahCNN via Twitter