Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home has gone through a rash of vehicle break-ins in the past couple of months.
But, police say, nearly every vehicle – if not all of them – was unlocked.
This year, through Aug. 4, Sweet Home has had 71 unauthorized entries into motor vehicles, said Sgt. Jeff Lynn. From July 1 to Aug. 4, there were 38.
In a canvas of the Safeway, American Family Video and Santiam Drug parking lot conducted on Aug. 10, The New Era and Sweet Home Police Department Community Services Officer Gina Riley identified 42 locked vehicles, 14 unlocked vehicles, six occupied vehicles and 10 where they were unable to determine if the vehicle was locked.
Of those where they could determine whether a vehicle was locked, 25 percent were not.
Three of the unlocked vehicles were parked in front of Santiam Drug, a higher percentage of the total compared to the entire parking lot, Riley said. The windows were rolled down while the owner apparently was just planning to run in and out quickly. A purse and a dog were visible and could easily have been taken during the time the drivers were inside the store.
Another unlocked car was left with its windows down by a business owner, who could clearly see his vehicle, Riley said. He noticed Riley checking his vehicle. He told her that he deliberately leaves the windows down in the summer and just keeps an eye on it.
Another business owner told The New Era that she usually locks the door but didn’t that day because there was nothing inside the car worth taking.
Few cars in the parking lot that day had any valuable items visible through the windows.
Two main areas have been hit, including Mountain Shadows Trailer Park off Tamarack Street, and the area around 44th Avenue and Airport Road. Police arrested two men in the UEMVs and thefts in the 44th and Airport area.
“The overwhelming majority were unsecured,” Lynn said. “I can’t think of one where they actually broke in. I’m sure there’s probably been one that was forced open.”
Flipping through police reports, Lynn pointed out one where a man parked his vehicle on the street in front of his house and left his wallet on the console and the vehicle unlocked. Continuing to flip through the reports, it’s the same story, valuables left inside unlocked cars.
That explains why thieves aren’t actually “breaking” in, Lynn said. “Why break out a window when you can walk to the next car, and it might be unlocked.”
“It’s an opportunist,” Lynn said of the perpetrators, who were taking iPods, phones, change, wallets, anything of value.
Fortunately, the thieves didn’t take everything they could have, said Community Services Officer Gina Riley.
When the victims have come in to pick up recovered items, Riley said, “they were absolutely shocked at what they didn’t take.”
Either the suspects didn’t want some items or just didn’t know the value of them, Riley said. Remaining behind were name-brand sunglasses, five or six cameras and GPS units. In one case, a radar detector was left behind while a digital camera and GPS unit were taken.
In every single case, change was taken, Riley said. That amounted to more than $40.
Sometimes, the owner of a vehicle may catch a thief in the act, Riley said. When that happens, she suggests backing away and calling the police with a description of the suspect.
Don’t approach the vehicle, Riley said. That’s how the police were able to apprehend two suspects in the 44th and Airport cases.