14 Clintonville vehicles entered in one day
By Erik Buchinger
According to the Clintonville Police Department’s daily press log, there were 14 reports of entry into vehicles or theft from vehicles between 5:38 a.m. and 8:31 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Clintonville.
No arrests have been made from these incidents, and there were four more reported vehicle break-ins that day with another on Thursday and two more on Friday.
With no damage reported on any of the vehicles, Clintonville Chief of Police James Beggs called the recent trend of entry into vehicles “crimes of opportunity.”
“They’re looking for vehicles unlocked with small seeable items that are convenient to grab and go,” Beggs said. “If people take time to lock vehicles or hide loose change or anything of value out of plain view for these opportunistic thieves, it would greatly reduce the problems we’ve had recently.”
Among the items stolen include loose change, credit cards, purses and navigational products.
According to Beggs, this has turned into a recent trend in Clintonville.
“We experienced this a few years back, and that one we were able to stop,” Beggs said. “Hopefully we’ll be doing that again this time. We’ve noticed it start up again this summer and into this fall.”
Beggs offered some tips on how to keep possessions in vehicles safe.
“Anything that looks valuable that could be easily carried away should be taken out of the car or put into glove boxes,” Beggs said. “Also, park your vehicles in well lit areas. I know that’s not always possible, but always be sure to lock the vehicle and don’t leave the windows open.”