Shelburne Police warn of car break-ins, thefts

Shelburne Police are telling residents to keep their cars locked and valuable items out of sight as an uptick in stolen vehicles and car break-ins have recently taken place in nearly 15 different areas in Shelburne.

“There’s no pattern,” Shelburne police officer Josh Flores said. “It looks like we are getting hit all over town.”

During the week of Sept. 25 to Oct. 2, 14 cars were broken into, and one car and one utility vehicle were stolen. All the incidents happened overnight.

“Some of those cars had items stolen from them, but people are not taking anything expensive,” he said. “They’re looking for loose change, any spare money that’s kicking around in the cars.”

Since last week, three more reports of car break-ins, a stolen car and another attempt to steal a car are being investigated. The only thread that the department currently has is reports of a white SUV linked to some of the incidents.

“We’re not seeing any smash and grabs at this point. We’re not seeing people smash windows,” he said. “These are crimes of opportunity where people are walking up and checking car doors to see if they can get them open.”

The department is recommending that residents lock their cars and not leaves keys inside. According to a press release sent out by the department, Chittenden County has seen motor vehicle thefts rise exponentially over the past couple of years. Many of the stolen vehicles had keys left in them.

“Cars need to be locked. Keys need to be taken out of the car,” Flores said. “Anything of value, including loose change, should not be in the car. Certainly don’t leave any purses or bags in the car, especially if it’s not locked.”

Flores also urged residents to ensure that garage doors are kept locked and exterior lights kept on in the overnight hours.

“If they hear something and they look and it’s pitch black out, then they can’t get descriptions for us and a lot of times those descriptions are really important and can lead us to suspects,” he said.

Neighbors with door cameras are also encouraged to check them regularly and pass along any information to the police department.