Warning: Car Thieves Often Strike on New Year’s Day
While many people are out enjoying the New Year’s Eve and Day festivities, car thieves take it as an opportunity.
In 2016 the National Crime Information Center reported that more than 4,000 cars were broken into on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
In the City of Santa Cruz, 40 car thefts have occurred over the past month.
Santa Cruz Police say car break in’s are a crime of opportunity, and there are ways to prevent it from happening to you. “Car prowling is a crime of opportunity, and so those suspects are going around and they’re juggling those handles or grabbing those handles and if you don’t have your car locked you’ve just created an opportunity for someone,” says Joyce Blaschke with Santa Cruz Police Department.
Other ways to prevent cars being stolen are, “take your keys in with you, roll your windows up and hide all of your valuables or take them with you,” says Blaschke.
Police say people can make themselves easy targets when leaving their car running and unattended. Blaschke says, “there is a good percentage of cars that are stolen because the owner turns their car on in the morning and then goes back in the house to get a cup of coffee or finish there belongings.”
New Year’s celebrations usually see a high number of thefts because cars are left unattended from people carpooling or using public transportation. If you do have to leave your car unattended police say try to find a well lit area and make sure to lock up and take everything with you.
