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Home > Property Crimes > Avoid theft. Lock your cars, and take valuables inside. Especially guns

Avoid theft. Lock your cars, and take valuables inside. Especially guns

Leaving your car or truck unlocked in a driveway or on the street is never a good idea — especially when you leave firearms inside.

Late last month someone broke into an unlocked Ford Explorer in Star and stole a .40 caliber Glock pistol, 15 rounds of ammunition and other gun supplies.

The theft occurred in the driveway of a home in the State Street/Plummer Road neighborhood on Nov. 29 — most likely in the early morning hours.

Also taken from the SUV in the theft was an armored vest, a magazine for an AR rifle, and 30 rounds of military grade 5.56 mm ammunition.

Saturday’s car burglary was the 12th since Jan. 1 where guns have been stolen from unlocked cars.

Just a week before the Star burglary, someone broke into the back of an unlocked camper shell on a pickup in Eagle and stole two shotguns ( a 20 gage Browning and 12 gage Winchester) from inside.

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That burglary happened sometime overnight on Nov. 23 in the neighborhood just north of Eagle Hills Golf Course.

It’s not just cars, either. We’ve had six reports of guns being stolen from unlocked homes or storage units since Jan. 1.

In total, 23 guns are missing from those burglaries — 13 handguns, seven shotguns, and 3 high-powered rifles.

In 2013, we got reports of eight guns — four handguns, two rifles, and two shotguns — being stolen from unlocked cars, garages, and a storage facility.

The best way to avoid being a victim of any kind of car burglary is to always lock your car or truck, no matter where you park it — and keep those garage doors closed.

The vast majority of all vehicle burglaries — 76 percent since Jan. 1 in areas patrolled by the ACSO — are when people leave their cars unlocked.

That percentage likely underestimates the number of unlocked car burglaries, once you examine the statistics.

Since Jan. 1 through Dec. 8, the ACSO has received reports of 247 vehicle burglaries — with 189 of those cases where the car was unlocked. We’ve had 29 car burglaries were forced entry (like a smashed window or pried-open door) is evident.

That leaves 25 car burgs in the “unknown” category, where victims remember locking their cars but there is no sign of forced entry.

The point of all this is to urge everyone to keep the widows closed and doors locked on your cars or trucks when parking outside. In all circumstances. And please take your guns inside. Why risk losing them?

The Star and Eagle cases are still under investigation. Anyone with information should call Ada County dispatch at 377-6790.