Rash of vehicle burglaries strikes 280 corridor
During the evening hours of Feb. 27, approximately 19 vehicles were unlawfully entered in residential neighborhoods along Cahaba Valley Road near Doug Baker Boulevard in north Shelby County.
According to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, credit cards, checkbooks, cash, computers, phones and guns were all stolen from the vehicles. An unlocked vehicle with the keys left in it was also stolen from the same area that night. All vehicles unlawfully entered, including the one stolen, were left unlocked.
In September 2013, the Sheriff's Office issued a press release advising residents of a similar night of thefts from cars in the same area. The common theme there was that most of the vehicles were unlocked. In November 2013, the Sheriffs Office, in partnership with the Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and surrounding law enforcement agencies, launched the crime prevention and awareness campaign titled, Lock It. Hide It. Keep It. The focus of that campaign is to encourage residents to help us help them prevent property crime.
The message is simple:
- Lock It: Lock your vehicle every time you leave it unattended and always lock your valuables in the trunk.
- Hide It: If you dont have a trunk, hide valuables under the seats, in the glove box, or other compartments within the vehicle.
- Keep It: Personal responsibility is the best prevention to safeguard personal property and to prevent becoming a victim.
To reduce your chances of being a victim, please remove valuables from your car at night and lock your car's doors.
Sheriffs investigators are currently looking into leads that may possibly identify suspects involved in last Thursday nights thefts, and have posted pictures of a person of interest on the Shelby County Sheriffs Office Facebook page.
Anyone with information about these thefts is urged to contact the Shelby County Sheriff's Office directly at 669-4181, through the Secret Witness line at 669-9116 or through our website at ShelbySO.com by clicking on the Report Criminal Activity link and choosing the General Information category.