CRPD sees uptick in thefts from vehicles, stolen cars and burglaries

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Police Department has seen an increase in thefts from vehicles, auto thefts and burglaries in recent days.

The common thread, police said, is that most of these crimes are preventable.

'In many of the examples, they probably could have been prevented by locking the door - whether the house or the car - and keeping things out of plain view,” said Greg Buelow, the city's public safety spokesman.

Since May 15, the police department has taken 18 reports of thefts from vehicles. Additionally, officers have responded to 15 stolen vehicle reports this month and on Wednesday morning alone between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., police responded to five reports of burglaries in the northeast quadrant.

A majority of those crimes involved unlocked doors or other things that made the crime easier, police said.

Of the 18 theft from vehicle reports - which included stolen cash, lottery tickets, wallets, purses, laptops and two handguns - only three people had locked their vehicles. Of the 15 stolen vehicles, eight of the victims had left their keys in the unlocked cars. Police said two of Wednesday's burglary victims told police they left their doors unlocked while they were inside sleeping.

Buelow emphasized that police aren't blaming the victims of crimes, but advised that they take extra actions - locking car and house doors, for instance - to try to avoid being victimized.

'Just because people have something in their living room ... doesn't give somebody the right to take it,” he said.