Car break-ins at parks are not good news thieves are targeting parked vehicles

Note from George: For your information…. At Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park, plus many other locations, car break-ins are not good news according to police as reported on KY3 News. The moral of this story is lock your valuables in the trunk prior to arriving at your destination. Better yet bring the minimum items necessary so you can carry them and won’t have to lock them in the trunk or place them out of sight.

Springfield Police: Car break-ins are on the increase
Thieves are targeting vehicles at parks
By Emily Wood, KY3 News

TV video link: http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-springfield-police-car-breakins-on-the-increase-20120604,0,6552400.story

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — City police said they see an uptick in car break-ins right along with the uptick in temperatures. There were more than a half dozen break-ins at Nathanael Greene Park in the last month, and police expect things to grow worse over the summer months.

“I have a few things and, the things I have, I’ve worked hard for. I don’t want somebody else walking off with them,” said Steve Batson, a U.S. veteran who enjoys taking bike rides around Nathanael Greene Park on Scenic Avenue between Sunshine Street and Battlefield Road. Batson said, when he leaves his vehicle, he knows not to leave anything of value inside, because he has been robbed before. “It’s a feeling of violation,” Batson said.

Springfield police said thieves will travel from parks to apartment complexes to strip malls looking for opportunities. The most break-ins occur in December before Christmas and during the summer when a lot of people spend time outside.

“They’ll go for a run that’s a couple miles away from where their vehicle is, or go for a bike ride, and never hear their alarm that has gone off and never know that something has happened,” said Cpl. Matt Brown, a spokesman for the Springfield Police Department.

Brown said thieves are targeting parks. They look for unlocked cars first. They also watch to see if people are trying to hide valuables inside their cars. “If it’s something they really want, they’re going to break your window to get into it,” Brown said.

Police said thieves are quick to take advantage of people who are too trusting. “This is the one area we’re asking them not to be trusting in,” Brown said.