Rash Of Burglaries To Unlocked Cars In Aurora: Police

The following was published by the Aurora Police Department: "We have been getting slammed in recent days with unlocked motor vehicles being burglarized. Although we’ve taken reports in all areas of the City, the Far Southeast side has been especially hit hard.

Since March 30, ten unlocked vehicles have been burgled. Four of the burglaries occurred between 9 p.m., March 30 and 7:13 a.m. March 31 in the 2000 block of Edinburgh Ln., 1600 block of Silver Springs Ct., and 1900 block of Erin Marie Ct.

An additional six vehicles were burglarized between 8 p.m., April 1 and 12 p.m. April 2 in the 2100 and 2300 blocks of Wilson Creek Ci., the 2100 block of Shenandoah Dr. and 2800 block of Rourke Dr.
In at least some of the incidents, the targeted vehicles, which were parked both on the street and in driveways, were also damaged apparently on purpose. The vehicles were typically ransacked and valuables including cash and change, electronics, and other miscellaneous items were stolen.
The 10 burglaries appear to be related.
Other burglaries to unsecured vehicles across Aurora include:

• A purse left laying on a front seat was taken from an open vehicle window between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., March 28 in a gas station parking lot in the 600 block of N. Broadway.
• Cash was taken from a wallet left on a vehicle seat between 7 a.m., March 27 and 7 a.m. March 28 in the 2500 block of Legacy.
• A wallet left on a seat was also stolen from a vehicle between 9 p.m., March 26 and 8 a.m. March 27 in the 300 block of Florida.
• A laptop computer was stolen between 9:30 p.m., March 28 and 7:45 a.m. March 29 in the 2900 block of Shelly Ln.
• Numerous tools were taken between 10 p.m. March 30 and 7:30 a.m. March 31 from a van parked in the 800 block of Grove St.
• A cellular phone was stolen around 2:25 a.m. April 1 from a vehicle parked in the 1100 block of Lebanon.
• An unlocked conversion van parked in a driveway in the 2200 block of Bannister Ln., had several hundred dollars of tools taken from it between 11 p.m., April 3 and 7:30 a.m., April 4. There was also an attempted vehicle break in around the same time frames in the 1700 block of Middelbury.

These incidents serve as a reminder of the importance of taking the opportunity away from car burglars by locking your doors and windows and making sure anything of value is not left in plain view. The vast majority of these types of crime occur when a thief sees valuables (cash, electronics, purses, wallets, even spare change) laying on car seats or floor boards. Their temptation to steal increases when they find a vehicle unlocked or windows rolled down because they grab the “goods” within seconds.

Remember too, that we need everyone to be our eyes and ears and report suspicious behavior. If you see something in your neighborhood that doesn’t seem quite right, please call 9-1-1 immediately.

We’d appreciate any tips on any of the burglaries to be phoned in to our investigators at 630-256-5500, Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000, or submit info using our My PD app."

Photo: "power lock" by Susan Dussaman via Flickr (https://creativecommons.org/li...)