Southington Cops Again Issue Car Burglary Warning

SOUTHINGTON, CT — With multiple vehicle burglaries and stolen vehicles being reported over the past few weeks, Southington police are again uring residents to lock them before tucking themselves in.

"Vehicle burglaries and vehicle thefts are one of the most common crimes that usually occur at night," police said in a statement released last week. "Most vehicle burglaries happen to vehicles that are unsecured. We encourage all citizens to lock their vehicles at all times. Vehicle burglaries and vehicle thefts are crimes of opportunity ... take away the opportunity for a burglar to get into the vehicle or leave nothing to steal and you have a better chance of not being a victim."

Vehicle burglaries can lead to other crimes like identity theft. Even vehicle registrations or other papers inside a vehicle contain enough information for a thief to steal an identity, police said.

Fingerprints and other evidence are harder to obtain from vehicle burglaries due to the nature of
the surfaces like cloth fabrics or textured material used on the dash, police said.

Here are some defensive measures residents can take:

• Lock vehicle doors and close vehicle windows
• Remove keys from the vehicle
• Remove all personal items like cell phones purses, laptop computers
• Remove any portable devices such as GPS systems and DVD players
• Remove garage door openers from your vehicle when parking in the driveway or street

• If items need to stay in a vehicle, place them in the trunk or out of plain view
• If a car has an alarm system, use it
• Keep an exterior light on during the nighttime hours

"If you see or hear anything suspicious or see something out of place, call the police immediately," police said.

Police said that includes:

• Suspicious/unfamiliar people
• Suspicious/unfamiliar vehicles

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel

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