Car Burglaries On The Rise, Police Remind Residents To Lock Cars

LEMONT, IL — With the approach of the holidays, car burglaries are on the rise in Lemont, Police Chief Marc Maton said at the Dec. 9 village board meeting.

"It started about a week ago, we had [burglaries happen] in the Rolling Meadows area," Maton said, adding the car burglaries are a constant in most of the Chicago area.

Maton reminded residents to lock their cars to protect themselves from car burglaries.

"If you look at the methodology of these crews, they come in and they drop off about five or six guys, right off the interstate, typically in the subdivisions that border interstates," Maton said. "They'll only hit cars that are unlocked and if there are keys in them, they'll steal the cars."

The crews use stolen cars almost exclusively, Maton said.

Maton also reminded residents to lock their garages and be wary of leaving garage door openers in cars in the driveway.

"[The burglary crews] know [police] have short staffing, we can't sit in every subdivision every night," Maton said. "So they just move around and beat us to the game."

Maton added if police do catch suspects in the act, the suspects will drive away, and police policy doesn't allow for pursuit for non-violent crimes.

"We're playing catch up," Maton said. "We're doing the best we can."

"Please lock your doors, that's the one thing we can do."