Multiple vehicle break-ins reported in Moscow last weekend
During the final days of spring break, the Moscow Police Department saw a spike in vehicle prowls, according to Lt. Dave Lehmitz.
Seven break-ins and one attempted break-in occurred between Wednesday and Sunday last week.
On Saturday alone, three reports were made where windows of vehicles had been smashed — two with concrete blocks and one with a ceramic flowerpot. One of the vehicles was parked on Deakin Street on the University of Idaho campus. Although the break-ins were not limited to one area, many occurred on the west side of Moscow in areas such as Lauder, Asbury and West A Street.
Lehmitz said the vehicle prowls are usually a crime of opportunity, occurring when people leave their car unlocked. Despite this trend, only three of the seven vehicles that had items stolen from them were unlocked.
“The alarming thing is they’re busting windows,” he said. “This, to me, is just more malicious.”
Items stolen from the vehicles included wallets, purses and backpacks carrying multiple items such as money, debit cards, driver’s license and electronics. In one case, the perpetrator broke a window out and all they took was a phone charger, Lehmitz said.
“It just kind of goes to show that if you are going to leave belongings in your vehicle, you should probably leave them in your trunk or out of sight,” he said. “If they want it bad enough, they’re going to break out a window.”
Most of the break-ins took place at apartment complexes, which Lehmitz said are targeted areas. Also, because it was spring break, some vehicles may have been parked for a long period of time without being checked on.
The police currently have no suspects in the recent break-ins, and Lehmitz said anyone with information is encouraged to call the police.
Vehicle prowls have been an ongoing problem in Moscow, but this year, the police began to see a decrease in reports until this recent spike, Lehmitz said. In 2013 there were 247 total reports of vehicle prowls in Moscow, averaging four to five reports per week. In 2014, the number was slightly lower at 230, averaging closer to four reports per week.
Since the beginning of 2015, there has been 30 vehicle prowls reported to Moscow police, averaging 2-3 per week — eight of those occurred just last week.
Although vehicle prowls are common in Moscow, the smashing of windows are usually rare and isolated incidents, like when it happened to UI senior Kate Cole-Bailey.
Cole-Bailey’s vehicle was full of her belongings last August during a move. She was parked near A&W when someone threw a cinder block through her passenger side window and stole her purse.
“Normally I don’t lock my car,” she said. “But I did, because I was in-between moving so I had a lot of things in my car and I just forgot to take my purse out … I kind of wish I had just left my car unlocked.”
Cole-Bailey said she still leaves her car unlocked sometimes, but never leaves anything valuable inside.
Mary Malone can be reached at [email protected]