On the night of Dec. 21, the Collierville Police Department responded to several calls where automobiles had been burglarized.
Their initial investigation revealed that in every incident, the vehicle was left unlocked.
These incidents occurred in the neighborhoods close to the areas of Six Crowns Street and White Road.
Every year, there are items stolen from unlocked vehicles where the owner was only going to be gone “just for a second.”
It only takes seconds for a thief to break in to a car, especially if it is unlocked. It’s not at all uncommon for thieves to walk down a row of parked vehicles and check vehicle doors to see if they are unlocked. Don’t leave any window open or even cracked open, including vent/wing windows and sunroofs.
Don’t leave valuables in your car If you must leave valuable items in your car while out and about, place those items out of sight before reaching your destination if possible.
Leave no trace Don’t leave any “sign” that there might be valuables “out of sight” in your vehicle, such as docking stations or connector cables.
Leave nothing in “plain sight” that might make your vehicle worth “investigating” by a thief; not even loose coins or a CD.
Try to park in busy, well-lighted areas Try to park in well-traveled areas. Large anonymous lots are hit by thieves much more often than parking immediately adjacent to residential housing or other occupied buildings.
Auto-burglars prefer breaking into cars where they will not be observed or attract attention, and choose their targets accordingly.
Set any alarm or anti-theft device If you have one, use it! Many people believe that car-alarms no longer make a difference, but they can be an effective deterrent to an auto-burglar, who most often chooses the easiest target.
If they have two cars to choose from, one with an alarm and one without, they will likely burglarize the one without (unless you’ve left out valuables just too good to ignore!) What to do if something is stolen out of your car.
As soon as you notice something’s stolen (or that your car has been broken into) do not touch/adjust anything in, on, or around the car.
As soon as possible, call the Collierville Police Department at (901) 853-3207.
If anyone has any information regarding these auto burglaries, please call Collierville Crime Stoppers at (901) 457- CASH or submit an anonymous tip via text message by texting CPDTIP and your tip to 847411.
