Slew of vehicle break-ins reported
By Brandon Davis
Published in News on December 7, 2016 10:32 AM
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office is investigating a slew of motor vehicle break-ins reported in Pikeville Monday morning.
Seven reports were filed from 5:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. stating vehicles were entered sometime between Sunday night and the next morning.
Many of the cars were left unlocked, according to the reports filed.
According to the first report, a woman discovered four pairs of shoes, two shirts and a pair of jeans missing from her car on Hinnant Road. She said she called the sheriff's office in the afternoon because she noticed the items missing from her car as she drove to work that morning.
Deputies found no forced entry, and the report said the woman could not remember if she locked her doors the night before.
A second report said a woman found her glove box open at 6:45 a.m.at the 100 block of Brookside Way, and then noticed missing items including clothing, jewelry and perfume were missing. Also missing were a folding shovel, car scraper, bottle opener, air compressor and a window punch hammer. She told deputies she had been Christmas shopping the day before, according to the report.
The woman reported a car security camera was turned off, and the report said the car's doors were unlocked when the items were stolen.
A third report said a woman discovered someone broke into her car at 7:25 a.m. on Hinnant Road. Her doors were also unlocked.
Five minutes later, a man came across gift cards, sunglasses, an iPod, money and tools missing from his glove box. He said he remembered locking his doors the night before at the 400 block of Sweeten Branch Drive, but the report did not say if there was a forced entry. Deputies did find a shirt lying in the man's yard, which the man reported missing from his car.
From 7:45 a.m. until 8 a.m., near Willowbrook Drive and Sweeten Branch Drive, three more people reported items missing from their cars, only one of which was locked.
Maj. Tom Effler with the sheriff's office said though the reports were filed in the morning, it is likely the incidents happened overnight. He said no one has been arrested, and no connection among the seven reports or how many people were involved has been discovered at this time.
Effler said people should contact the sheriff's office as soon as they see a person who looks out of place, either walking around a car or home late at night or early in the morning.
He also said people need to lock their car doors at all times, especially at their homes and at the mall.
"We're encouraging people to lock their doors," Effler said. "Most of the time, thieves don't want to make any more noise than they have to, so they'd rather find what's unlocked."