SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Five kids were caught smashing windows of more than 20 cars in the light rail parking lot in South Sacramento. It happened in broad daylight, in just a 15-minute timespan.

The suspects took nothing more than spare change, but now the car owners will have to pay up in car repairs.

It took a Regional Transit Security Officer to see something off surveillance video to take action. And we’re learning there wasn’t a security guard in the parking lot when this happened. They were monitoring other rail stations that officers say are a higher priority.

On Wednesday, at least a dozen security guards stood guard at the Franklin light rail parking lot. But just one day earlier, not one single guard was there to catch five kids breaking into at least 20 cars.

Regional Transit Police Sergeant Renee Mitchell says by the time the suspects were caught on video, it was too late.

“The damage was already done, we just started watching them because we just didn’t know what they were doing,” she said.

The kids boarded the train and were detained at the next stop.

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“If you commit a crime in our vicinity, we’re going to catch you. Everybody kept an eye on them until the officers could arrive to make contact,” Sg.t Mitchell said.

We looked into how much security there is where you park at rail stations. On top of 1,000 cameras across the RT system, Regional Transit said they just added 35 new guards and eight or nine RT Police Officers are also monitoring the trains at all times.

Plus, there are approximately 30 “RT Ambassadors” on board trains to help with customer service but to also keep an eye on security. Despite all this, no one caught these culprits.

So how did this happen?

“They probably caught this small window where we didn’t have high visibility or somebody present. As much as we try to be all things, at all times, sometimes it’s really hard with how big a system we have,” said Mitchell.

We also wanted to know who is responsible for keeping your car safe at rail lots?

Sargent Mitchell says her team is, and they will learn from this. They may even shift their security around to cover the right areas.

“It’s a little reactive when it comes to policing, but we do the best we can to be sure we try to get that coverage there,” Mitchell said.

All five kids were detained at the Meadowview station one stop from the Franklin station. Because of their age, police are not releasing their identities.