Unsecured cars easy pickings for thieves
Police warning as 5 cars stolen in 48 hours
A CAR which smashed through a suburban house fence narrowly avoiding causing major structural damage is the latest in a spate of stolen vehicles being used in crimes across Toowoomba.
Five cars were reported stolen in less than 48 hours in what the city’s frustrated police have said were nearly always avoidable.
Two of the stolen cars have been recovered with varying degrees of damage.
In a worrying incident, one of the recovered cars was left embedded in the front yard of an Arthur St home about 4.15am yesterday.
The offenders fled the East Toowoomba area and last night remained at large.
The car was reported stolen from Gowrie Junction, believed to have been taken sometime between 2am and 4am yesterday.
Darling Downs Acting Superintendent Stephen Angus said in almost each instance the keys had been taken from the home where the cars were parked, indicating properties had not been locked or secured.
UNFORTUNATELY SOME OF THOSE CARS, PROBABLY OVER HALF OF THOSE CARS, HAVE BEEN STOLEN AS A RESULT OF OPPORTUNISTIC CRIME. DARLING DOWNS ACTING SUPERINTENDENT STEPHEN ANGUS
“Unfortunately some of those cars, probably over half of those cars, have been stolen
as a result of opportunistic crime,” he said.
“By that I mean the keys have been readily available so the offenders have entered some of the houses, removed keys that have been sitting on the table or the door and taken the keys, accessed the car and stolen the motor vehicles.
“They could have easily been prevented by simple security measures.
“Lock the houses, lock the cars, secure the keys.”
Acting Superintendent Angus said police had been proactive
in promoting the Lock It or Lose It message across the district, but it was yet to take hold in people’s routines and behaviour at home.
He said failing to secure the home or vehicles could have ramifications with insurance claims.
“Most people would have their house and vehicle insured but it does raise issues of concern for insurance companies when they determine that either the vehicle or the house where the keys were stolen from were not secure,” he said.