BATON ROUGE - For years, residents in Lake Beau Pre, Heatherstone, and other surrounding neighborhoods have been victim of a serial burglar.

They only steal small items like watches and cash.

If those living in the neighborhood forget to lock their deadbolt, they could end up being the burglar's next victim. They use a metal credit card to slide through the door and open it without having to unlock the door.

They've been around for so long that they have their own nickname, as people in the neighborhood call them the "Lake Beau Pre Bandit" say they wear all black.

Hunter Ryan, a college student and resident of Heatherstone has already fallen victim once.

"It's a scary thing, cause I was at my house just asleep upstairs," Ryan said. "Me and my roommate were asleep upstairs whenever the incident occurred inside of my house with that video."

People living in the area have caught the burglar breaking into their homes off their Ring cameras numerous times. Police reports have been filed, but they feel BRPD doesn't care.

BRPD spoke on the situation and said detectives are waiting for leads like fingerprints or searching for patterns before making a move to resolve a case like this one.

To take matters into his own hands, Ryan has bought a bar that blocks anyone from breaking into his home, even if they unlock the door.

That's just the first step he has taken to better protect him from falling victim to yet another break in.