5 Unlocked Vehicles Plundered In Palos Heights

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — After months of light boards, signs and news releases reminding residents to lock their vehicles, burglars let themselves into five unlocked cars in Palos Heights during the overnight hours of Nov. 18.

An alert resident called police around 12:30 a.m. after observing a suspicious vehicle driving slowly through with its headlights turned off. Officers responded and spotted the car occupied by three men. The vehicle, seeing police, sped off. Per police department policy, officers did not chase after the car.

"They fled the scene,” Palos Heights Deputy Chief Bill Czajkowski said. “We’re not going to put the community at risk for someone taking a cell phone out of a car.”

Like many south suburbs, police continually remind residents to lock their vehicles and take their valuables, such as computers, cell phones, purses and wallets, into the house with them.

“We just want to remove the temptation by having residents lock their car doors,” Czajkowski added. “We’re not victim shaming, we’re just stating a fact.”