Jefferson City police warn neighborhoods of more car break-ins

Jefferson City residents have reported at least a dozen car break-ins to police in a little less than two weeks.

“We’ve had three of these advisories within the past I would say three months, so it seems like it’s becoming fairly common,” Capt. Doug Shoemaker with the Jefferson City Police Department said.

However, all of the vehicles were left unlocked, according to Shoemaker. In some of the cases, thieves stole garage door openers from the unlocked vehicles and stole items from garages. But the thieves did not break into any homes.

The most recently rash of thefts happened on the west side of the city with some reports on Country Ridge Drive and Bannister Road.

“It certainly made me uneasy,” Jefferson City resident Ryan Claspill said.

Claspill, who lives on Bannister Road, told ABC 17 News he did not notice right away that someone had been inside his truck.

“On my way to work I realized what I though was my iPad actually wasn’t my iPad sitting there, it was my user manual from my glove box that I haven’t seen in two years.”

Claspill said other things in his truck were moved, but nothing was stolen.

That is a similar story to what happened to Andrea McFarland last month on Boonville Road.

“It just makes me very nervous that if we didn’t hear them getting into our cars or you know just didn’t realize that someone was getting into our cars, how easy it would be for them to get into our home,” McFarland told ABC 17 News in April.

Thursday morning, the recurring issue was brought to the attention of the Jefferson City Public Safety Committee.Police sent an advisory to neighborhood watches notifying the groups of the problem.

“More often than not, it’s fairly random as to where these things occur,” Shoemaker said. “But once a thief finds one vehicle that’s unlocked, they think, and in this case correctly, that several vehicles in the same area might also be unlocked.”

Shoemaker said residents can do some things to deter thieves like having outdoor lighting and reporting suspicious activity, but said the best way to protect yourself is to simply lock your car doors.

Police have no suspects at this time.