Uptick in car break-ins across the Central Coast

UPDATE 3/14/2016 5:50 PM:

Law enforcement agencies across the Central Coast are warning people that car break-ins are on the rise.

According to a Monterey Police Department news release, on March 6 and 7 there were more than a dozen property thefts from unlocked and locked vehicles. Thieves targeted the Alameda, San Bernabe, Monterey Circle and Via Del Pinar neighborhoods.

The Monterey Park Neighborhood Watch in Salinas warned neighbors after at least eight break-ins in the area. Also in Salinas, six Staples Energy vans were broken into. Sometime over the weekend, someone used bolt cutters to get into the secure property, broke into the vans and stole hand tools.

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said it received at least six reports of car break-ins in Carmel and Carmel Valley on Saturday. In all of those cases, the cars were left unlocked.

Scott Flewelling learned the hard way two years ago when he left his car unlocked one night.

“They ruffled through, took everything that was loose including a handicap placard, that sort of thing, and threw most of it at the end of the block, so we recovered some of it but I don’t know what they’re looking for, but it was not cool,” Flewelling said.

Whether it’s a crime ring or individual thieves, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office says agencies do work together to find whoever is responsible.

“A lot of these are on the coast and our deputies assigned to the coastal station do talk to other agencies,” Cmdr. John Thornburg said. “We do compare notes, if you will. We do share notes. We do share, to some degree, intelligence information.”

Flewelling says he is taking precautions on his own, like double checking locks, even installing alarms.

“Having people go through your personal belongings and deciding whether you should have them or not is a horrifying thought to me,” Flewelling said.

The trend isn’t confined to Monterey County. The Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office says it is investigating an uptick in break-ins in the Davenport area.

ORIGINAL POST:

Law enforcement agencies across the Central Coast are warning people that car break-ins are on the rise.

Over the past few months, there’s been clusters of break-ins from Salinas to Carmel.

At this point, there’s no rhyme or reason behind the uptick. But plenty of people are waking up to a big headache.

In Salinas, sometime over the weekend, someone used bolt cutters to get onto the Staples Energy property and broke into six vans, stealing hand tools.

In Carmel, there were six reported break-ins over the weekend. And according to the Monterey Park Neighborhood Watch, there were eight break-ins last week.

Scott Flewelling learned the hard way two years ago when he left his car unlocked one night.

“They ruffled through, took everything that was loose, including a handicap sign, a placard, that sort of thing and threw most of it at the end of the block,” Flewelling said. “So we recovered some of it, but I don’t know what they’re looking for.”

KION’s Mariana Hicks will have more on this story at 6, including what the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office is doing to catch whoever is responsible.