Make sure you have no valuables in your car. Decatur PD just sent out this alert…
On 1-14-14, Decatur Police received reports of 11 vehicles entered during the overnight hours in the Winnona Park neighborhood. The vehicles were located in the 100 block of Avery Street, 100 block of Hilldale Drive, 200-300 block of Winnona Drive and 100 block of Shadowmoor Drive. Some of the vehicles were knowingly left unsecured and others may have been left unsecured unintentionally. There were no signs of forced entry to any of the entered vehicles. Most of the vehicles were parked in driveways, but a few were parked on the street. Items taken from the entered vehicles include a wi-fi device, iPod, phone chargers, checkbook, flashlight, loose change, ear phones, laptop, Xbox game system and controller, digital camera, a 6-pack of paper towels, sunglasses, chewing gum, mints and a blue tooth transmitter. Many of the items taken were in plain view.
We understand that some residents do not want to lock their vehicles in the hopes of preventing a window being broken out but we encounter entering auto suspects who specifically target unsecured vehicles because it is easier and makes less noise. Whether you choose to secure your vehicle or not, please remove any valuables from plain view. Place items in the trunk or take them with you. Also, if you have or are looking to install motion activated lights at your home, make sure the lights are installed so that someone walking into your driveway will trip the motion sensor.
There have been 7 similar cases reported in the Kensington Road area today and we are currently working with the Avondale Estates Police Department to share information and determine if these cases may be related.
If you see a 15-year-old boy with lots of paper towels and astonishingly fresh breath, call 911.
People sure do leave a lot of stuff in their cars. I guess the thieves would skip mine unless they were interested in catching up on Creative Loafing and Decatur Dispatch from last year.
My car’s contents were rifled when there was a rash of car break-ins in our area last summer. Not only was I embarrassed that I had left it unlocked but I was embarrassed that nothing in it was deemed worth taking. I would really hate to read the police file for the visits to our home over the years. It’s probably filed under “D” for ditzy.
Have had burglars rifle my jewelry box and take a pass on the contents not once, but twice in my adult life. Weird feeling.
Lived in a borderline-seedy 4-plex decades ago (in another state) and had two break-ins in less than two weeks. They took liquor, cigarettes, loose change and a Sony Walkabout (much mourned, since irreplaceable). Cops agreed it was likely the truant teen downstairs & his pal, but could nothing beyond advise strengthening locks & replacing flimsy windows (which was a no-go with the landlord). Kid’s single father was working two or more jobs, trying to keep tabs on a younger brother, never around. So I baited the liquor cabinet with a bottle of cheap whiskey laced with ipecac syrup. It was gone in less than a week, and they never came back. (I moved a couple of months later.)
That is BRILLIANT! Poetic Justice. Just glad the intended effects did not occur in your apartment.
I guess this explains the police activity on Avery yesterday morning. I assumed it was a car break-in based on the unhappy look on one man’s face who was standing next to his car talking to a police officer.
What I don’t understand is why anyone would leave a laptop in a car overnight, whether secured or not. I also don’t understand why people don’t take extra precautions on rainy nights – there were thunderstorms both times my car has been broken into (back in the day when factory radios were garbage and thiefs broke into cars for CD players). Both times the responding police officer told me that the crooks know that noone is out and about in the middle of a rainy night (apparently our streets are full of activity on clear nights), and the police expect to be filling out lots of reports about car break-ins the mornings after stormy nights. FInally, and, perhaps most confusing, I don’t understand why the police would bother writing down chewing gum and mints as stolen items.
The other risk on stormy nights is that vagrants/petty thieves are cold, wet, and motivated to obtain temporary shelter and transport. Supposedly car thefts go way up when it’s raining.
Yep. Its not only (maybe not primarily) a decline in activity by law abiding citizens at 3AM. The storms mask the noise of smashing windows.
This explains why they need the paper towels.
I’ve got web cams facing the street. If they come to Oakhurst, we’ll get them on camera at least.
Andisheh, could you please elaborate on your webcam setup? What software do you use? Are they motion-activated or do you just keep them running? Thanks.
I’ll happily talk set-up. Can we correspond privately? I think I’m easily message-able on Facebook.
Also, the rain washes away fingerprints
When my car was broken into, the police officer said another reason rainy nights are a good time to break into a car is because the thief can hear cars driving on the wet road – it’s a great warning signal for them.
Leaving valuables in a vehicle overnight is like leaving pet food sitting around outdoors. It’s going to attract varmints. If the foraging is good, then they’ll keep coming back.
funny that you mention pet food since i had a bag stolen last month. not by varmints, i assume.
If the thief was two-legged, then it was definitely a varmint in my book. (Those on four legs have legitimate issues with impulse control.)
I’m tired of this nonsense. I hope the guilty people get caught.
I’m new to COD and I have never seen a police car on my block patrolling in the 8+ months I have lived here. My wife is a stay at home CEO (super mom) and she has commented the same. The cops are always parked on the same location looking for speeding cars. I’m not saying they aren’t doing their job but something needs to change because crime is going up.
Ditto (to some extent) in Avondale. They’re all over speeding on E College and N Avondale, racking up revenue from those passing through. And they’re often busy sitting in the middle of those roads scanning license plates on the off chance of snagging someone into that dragnet. In the mean time criminals are breaking into seven cars — seven! — on one street and on one night alone.
But busting actual criminals doesn’t raise much revenue.
Hey DEM. Consider attending the Avondale Citizen Police Academy this year so that you understand what you “think” you are seeing when the officers are running tags on the Federal/State highway that bisects the city, protecting Avondale and Decatur from the transient activity that pops off of I285, some of whom are here to commit crimes in our neighborhoods or are wanted on warrants. Then, volunteer to participate in the Citizen Patrol along with your neighbors who are trying to make a difference. I don’t feel sorry for residents who leave valuables in locked cars or unlocked cars (including the gun that was stolen from a car in Avondale last night) or refuse to turn on their porch or coach lights to help the police see the criminals moving through the yards. The police can’t possibly police enough to make up for people who don’t take responsibility for preventing crime.
Thanks for the suggestions, Spreak, but I’ll decline. And call me crazy, but I do have sympathy for victims of crime, whether or not they decide to run up their energy bills by leaving exterior lights on all night.
You don’t feel sorry for people who are the victims of criminals? Locked or unlocked, leaving valuables in the car or not, the “crime” of being careless should not be equal to the crime of BEING A CRIMINAL. There are thieves, thugs, felons, animals, and low-lifes among us – let’s not blame each other for what they do.