More Hilton Head rental properties broken into, this time in Sea Pines

Multiple rental properties on Hilton Head island have been burglarized in the last month.

Operations manager of VTrips, a vacation rental company, reported five properties managed by his business had household items stolen from them in that time frame, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report.

He told a deputy the properties were not forcibly entered and all had a keypad lock that employees could access with a code. He said he can monitor the access, but can't determine which employee entered the property.

He told a deputy he had no problems with theft "until one employee was hired."

A reference is made to a person caught on a surveillance camera entering a property on Lawton Drive in Sea Pines, but the majority of the incident is redacted in the report.

A previous report mentioned this incident, in which the woman said a former employee of VTrips was caught on camera leaving her house with an armful of items.

Another incident happened on Red Maple Road in Sea Pines, where an unknown person entered a property and stole money and alcohol at the end of April. The owner of that property said she wished to press charges if a suspect was identified.

Other burglarized property locations are not mentioned in the report.

Sheriff's office spokesperson Capt. Bob Bromage said no charges have been filed as of Friday.

A string of rental properties were burglarized in Palmetto Dunes over the last month as well, according to the community's chief of security, Jim Griner.

Bromage said previously there has not been an uptick in burglaries on the island, but offered several tips for keeping rental properties secure, as did Griner.

Among them, rental property owners should be careful what they advertise, check on properties when they are vacant and take general safety precautions like reinforcing sliding glass doors and installing security systems.

This story was originally published May 18, 2018 at 3:55 PM with the headline "More Hilton Head rental properties broken into, this time in Sea Pines."