Jefferson City police warn residents not to leave their cars unlocked

A number of items have been taken from unlocked cars in Jefferson City’s south side, specifically in the Colonial Hills area. Over the past few weeks, at least seven vehicles have been targeted.

Police have said that items such as electronics, cash, and even a firearm have been stolen. They are urging all City residents to lock car doors and remove anything valuable out of the vehicle.

Captain Doug Shoemaker said, “These kinds of things happen in all parts of town, its not limited to a good part of town or a bad part of town, its just simply an area of target of opportunity. And once you find one car that’s unlocked, you find a second unlocked. All the sudden there’s a pattern and the more difficult we make it for criminals to do what they do, the more likely we can discourage that.”

The cases have been passed on to detectives that can look more closely for details of a potential culprit. Officers ask if any resident sees anything odd or suspicious in their neighborhood please report it to the police, no matte how small.

These thefts are typically happening at night and are growing with the warmer weather.