ANTIOCH (KRON) – An all too familiar sight for car owners in the East Bay, smashed windows and an empty vehicle with valuable items inside stripped and stolen.
In even more extreme cases, the car is gone entirely.
Corporal Michelle Winters with Strategic Threat Management is based in Antioch, but covers several cities in East Contra Costa County for the private security firm.
“It’s not just Antioch, it’s pretty much everywhere. it’s widespread,” said Winters. She says thieves become more desperate during the holidays and are targeting specific cars to burglarize or steal.
A problem worsening the closer we get to the new year.
Winters explains, “Unfortunately, it’s the older Hondas and Toyotas, which are so common right now. A lot of young kids are driving them that are most common and easy to get into.” Winters says auto crimes are crimes of opportunity and that thieves like to work in the night.
So, if that’s when you do your shopping — be aware.
Winters advises, “Never park your vehicle next to another occupied vehicle. make sure you park in a well-occupied areas as far as other vehicles, well-lit. If you see cameras in the parking lot, try to park as close to or in the view of those cameras. Never leave anything valuable in your vehicle.”
Winters’ firm and others like it, patrol malls, shopping centers and business parks. They work with police to solve auto crimes.
She says, despite what you might think, more get solved than do not.
Still, you don’t want to do anything to entice a theft.
Don’t leave anything in plain sight.
Winters adds, “Anything they think they can use or might need. They don’t care about the cost. they don’t care about whether they actually need it either. If it’s there, they want it, they’re going to break your window.” Which at the very least, will result in hundreds of dollars in damages.
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