Rash of Vehicle Thefts, Items Stolen From Cars Reported In HoCo

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Residents are strongly urged to lock their vehicles at night due to a sudden increase in vehicle thefts and thefts from vehicles across the county.

The Howard County Police Department believes the same group or groups of individuals are responsible for these crimes and are targeting different neighborhoods on different nights. The police department is actively following leads and investigating each report. Patrol officers also are conducting increased area checks of residential neighborhoods in the overnight hours.

Here are tips from the police department:

• Always lock your vehicle. In some cases, thieves break car windows. But often they bypass locked vehicles.
• Do not leave keys or key fobs inside a vehicle. In many of the vehicle thefts reported, this has been the case.
• Do not leave valuables in plain sight or in a car at all. Numerous wallets and purses have been stolen out of vehicles in the last week.
• Park inside a garage if you have one and close garage doors. Thieves have entered open garages and stolen vehicles and items out of vehicles.

Additional security measures, such as VIN etching, vehicle security systems and a steering wheel/column lock also can be effective deterrents, the department noted.