Holiday auto burglars popping Ford trucks|[12/29/05]

Published 12:00 am Thursday, December 29, 2005

Two sprees of auto burglaries in as many weekends have Vicksburg Police on guard for New Year’s weekend, especially in areas where burglars targeted multiple vehicles and entered several trucks by popping locks through door handles.

Police responded to 15 auto burglary calls over the weekend of Dec. 16-18, with another 12 car break-ins reported in the city over Christmas weekend, Dec. 22-26. Altogether, thieves made away with thousands in cash, stereo equipment, laptop computers, DVD players, clothes, guns, cameras, cell phones, compact discs and assorted Christmas presents.

&#8220It always has to do with the holidays,” said Lt. Billy Brown, who expects the burglaries to continue. &#8220Crime goes up during the holidays because criminals know people leave gifts in their cars.”

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Burglars over Christmas weekend seemed to specifically target Ford F-150s and F-250s, hitting half a dozen of the pickups as well as one Chevrolet pickup, entering many of the vehicles through the driver’s side door handle, said Sgt. Tom Wilson.

The thieves lift up the handle until they can insert a screwdriver or other slender metal device into one of two small holes underneath the handle and pick the lock, Wilson said. Because it doesn’t require damaging the locks or breaking glass, the entry can go undetected except for small pry marks around the holes underneath the handle.

&#8220We believe all these burglaries are being committed by the same people,” said Brown. &#8220They’re the only ones I’m aware of doing it that way.”

Wilson compared the break-ins to hot-wiring certain types of makes and models of car by stripping plastic from the steering wheel, inserting a screwdriver into the wheel and starting the ignition by pushing, pulling or turning, according to the type of vehicle.

&#8220I’ve never seen them when they’re this precise in searching for one vehicle,” Wilson said.

Thieves also appear to be favoring certain areas in town. More than half a dozen of the burglaries – including most of the door handle entries this past weekend – occurred in the parking lot of the Ameristar Casino in the 1400 block of Washington Street or on nearby streets, Wilson said, which could offer strategic advantages as well as available autos.

&#8220Right off the Interstate, that’s an easy get-away,” Wilson said.

Ameristar security patrols the lot and also uses video surveillance to monitor outside the casino. Officials have been busy trying to sort through 48 to 72 hours of video covering the late-night and early morning hours during which the break-ins are believed to have occurred. Police are also taking fingerprints.

Unless the thieves are caught in the act of breaking into a car, though, Wilson said, finding any leads based solely on prints and other crime scene evidence can be a long process.

Pemberton Square was also targeted for a number of break-ins two weekends ago, and a car was broken into at Horizon Casino, as well.

Often, car burglaries can be prevented by commonsense steps, said Wilson, such as hiding valuables in a glove compartment or otherwise out of view, or simply keeping doors locked.

&#8220The big thing is, everything was in plain view. When the person walked by to get that laptop computer, it was laying on the seat,” said Wilson. &#8220There are plenty of these vehicles to get into but they wanted to make sure there was something to get first.”