Citizen Alert- Recent Vehicle Break-ins & Prevention

Contact: Lieutenant Clint Simpson

During the past week, several residents in the City of Eden have fallen victim to unknown person(s) entering their unlocked vehicle.  The vehicles that were entered were not damaged in any way and were UNLOCKED at the time.  The unknown person(s) searched through consoles, glove compartments and other areas attempting to find items of value. In a few of the cases, the person(s) did locate items of value left in the vehicle. In 95% of all vehicle break-in cases, the vehicles were unlocked at the time of the incident. 

LOCK YOUR DOORS and REMOVE ITEMS OF VALUE FROM YOUR VEHICLE WHEN POSSIBLE.  Get in the habit of locking the doors of your VEHICLE.  The majority of the time, thieves are looking for an easy target and will move on if the vehicle’s doors are locked.  Remove items from your vehicle that thieves may see as valuable such as medication, pocket books/purses, firearms, laptops and tablets and iPods. If you are unable to remove the items from the vehicle, lock the items in the trunk out of view and lock the doors. In most vehicles, the trunk can be accessed by a switch inside the vehicle.  Placing the items into the trunk and not locking the doors could still result in the loss of your valuable property.  The key is, LOCK YOUR DOORS. You should consider this even if you are leaving the vehicle parked for a short period of time. 
 

If you see any suspicious activity in your neighborhood, please contact the Eden Police Department by calling 911 or 336-623-9755. If you have information concerning the break-ins of vehicles, you may contact Detective Sam Reid at the Eden Police Department at 336-623-9240 or Rockingham County Crimestoppers at 336-349-9683.