Thefts from vehicles pattern in South Minneapolis

Here's the crime alert from MPD-P5 and there's a link to a map showing where they are.

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Theft From Motor Vehicles

We continue to see a trend of thefts from motor vehicles occurring in the 5th Precinct. See below for information on the last two weeks’ trends.

Stevens Square and Whittier residents may recognize the mention of the thefts from 10/20-10/26 from a previous alert. This alert is being sent out as a reminder.

Reported thefts from motor vehicles 10/20-10/26/09

35 reported thefts from motor vehicles in 5th Precinct.
15 of those occurred north of Lake Street.
A breakdown of those 15 reports is as follows:
5 were in Lowry Hill East
1 was in East Isles
2 were on the border of Lowry Hill East and East Isles
1 was in Lowry Hill
1 was in Stevens Square
1 was on the border of Stevens Square and Lowry Hill East
4 were in Whittier
In most cases, a window was broken to access valuables inside.
In 6 of the 15 cases, a GPS unit was stolen.
2 cases included stolen laptops.
2 included stolen iPods.


Reported thefts from motor vehicles 10/27-11/2/09

33 reported thefts from motor vehicles in 5th Precinct.
22 occurred north of Lake Street
A breakdown of the 22 reports is as follows:
6 were in Lowry Hill East
2 were on the border of East Isles and Lowry Hill East
1 was in Lowry Hill
7 were in Whittier
6 were on the border of Lowry Hill East and Whittier
In most cases, a window was broken to access valuables inside.
In 7 of the 22 cases, a laptop was stolen
In 3 cases, a GPS was stolen
If you would like to view the maps to see where specifically these thefts occurred, please visit http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-statistics/codefor/index.asp. Use the drop-down menu and select Precinct 5 if you would like to see maps from previous weeks or years. For property crimes like this, click the “Other C4 Offenses” link.



What You Can Do:

Remove valuables from your vehicle, including GPS, wallets, purses, laptops, iPods, and so on. Remember that even a gym bag or makeup bag could be attractive to a thief because he or she will not know what is inside.
Do not leave valuables in your car that contain personal information.
If your credit cards are stolen, notify the credit card companies immediately. See http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-prevention/docs/identity.pdf for more information on guarding your identity.
Get a laptop security program for your laptop.
Record the make, model and serial number on your GPS unit and any other valuables to increase the chances of the property being returned to you. For information on home inventory forms, visit http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-prevention/ under Forms.
Place valuables in your trunk before reaching your destination if you must have the valuables with you.
Call 911 on suspicious activity, especially if you notice people loitering around vehicles or checking door handles.
Call 911 on theft from motor vehicles occurring in progress.
See attached for further prevention tips for theft from motor vehicles.
To find more crime prevention tips on many topics, including the ones above, please visit: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/crime-prevention/.


For questions, contact:

Chelsea Adams, Crime Prevention Specialist
Minneapolis Police Department, 5th Precinct
chelsea.adams@ci.minneapolis.mn.us