Car thieves strike as students move back, CPD says
Police say the thieves are looking for items to steal and pawn.
Published Sept. 17, 2010
The Columbia Police Department received seven calls regarding property damage and theft Monday morning, according to a CPD news release. Several of the calls were about theft from vehicles, but there were no suspects as of Wednesday evening.
CPD spokeswoman Jill Wieneke said the best thing people can do to avoid having their car broken into is to lock car doors.
“Number one would be to lock your cars and number two would be lock your car,” she said. “Number three would be don’t leave any valuable items in view anywhere. If nothing else, lock them in your trunk. Also if you have the ability or opportunity, try to park somewhere that is well-lit.”
Freshman Ashley Crawford said car owners are responsible for making sure their cars do not particularly stand out as a target.
“Break-ins are going to happen anywhere,” Crawford said. “It’s up to the car owner not to leave valuables in their car.”
The number of reports for vehicle vandalism is about average for this time of year in Columbia.
CPD usually receives a lot of calls about vehicle break-ins when this time of year hits, Wieneke said. The majority of vehicle break-ins are unlocked vehicles.
“What tends to happen is about this time of year, students have been back now for about a month, and our local criminals are fully aware that students are all back,” Wieneke said. “They know the majority of students have iPods and laptops and all kinds of great things they like to steal and pawn.”
It’s hard to determine a direct underlying cause for vehicle vandalism because each case is different, Wieneke said.
“It can be something as simple as some guy sitting at his house deciding he doesn’t have any more money for crack cocaine and he decides he’s going to go out and break into some cars and get enough stuff to go trade for the drugs,” Wieneke said. “Or it could be someone who’s just bored, or juveniles that say ‘Hey, Mom and Dad’s gone tonight, we’re gonna go out around the neighborhood and see what we can steal.'”
When CPD receives a call reporting a crime, a patrol officer is dispatched to the call and makes a report. They will also collect evidence and take photographs.
“They’ll check the car to see if there’s any place they might be able to get fingerprints, but that’s really tough because most car interiors are textured,” Wieneke said. “They’ll try to look if there is anything the owner can tell if anything was moved around or opened they’ll look for evidence.”
Anything from an ashtray full of change to electronic equipment is a possible target for a thief.
“We get calls almost on a daily basis of someone reporting someone walking through a neighborhood or downtown checking door handles on cars to see what’s open,” Wieneke said. “Imagine how easy it is to go down a street at like, three in the morning, try door handles, find one that’s open and rummage around in the car to see what you can steal. That’s what they’re doing most of the time.”
The recent larcenies from vehicles over the past weekend were done by smashing the window out with a rock, but the majority of the time criminals just check for unlocked cars because it is less noisy than shattering a window, and there are so many cars left unlocked.
“Stress to people, lock their cars,” Wieneke said. “It’s the single biggest thing to prevent it.”