TAVARES, Fla. – After eight car break-ins resulted in the theft of two pistols and a checkbook, Tavares police are urging people to bring in their valuables and make sure their doors are locked.
Police said the break-ins all happened in the Elmwood subdivision in Tavares on Saturday. They said in this instance car doors were left unlocked, and the suspected thieves were able to get inside the cars.
William Thoms Sr. and his wife have lived in the Elmwood subdivision for almost three years. He said they’ve never experienced car break-ins like this, but said it doesn’t change his perception of his neighborhood.
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“You can’t be up all night long and watch things,” Thoms said. “You know even if we had a police cruiser come through here, he can only see what he sees.”
The Tavares Police Department put out a warning on social media about a “concerning uptick” of car break-ins.
“Criminals, unfortunately, are opportunists, so they do tend to go for unlocked vehicles that maybe forgot to lock up before going inside,” Diaz said.
But this isn’t only happening in the Elmwood neighborhood in Tavares.
Trooper Steve recently did a ride along in Results-1 with the Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey where he said these types of crimes are one of the biggest issues they deal with.
“We’ve always had a problem with our citizens not locking their car doors and leaving valuables in their cars,” Godfrey said. “We’ll call those car breaks. But the thing that drives us nuts about car breaks is that they also leave their guns in their cars.”
And it’s not just Central Florida, guns being stolen out of cars is a problem nationally too.
According to Every Town Research, in cities that report crime data to the FBI, on average at least one gun is stolen from a car every nine minutes and the rate of guns thefts from cars is triple what it was a decade ago.
Diaz is encouraging Tavares residents to not get discouraged about how safe the community is.
“It’s again, not uncommon,” Diaz said. “And just make sure you’re being vigilant of your surroundings and making sure your stuff is locked up at night.”
TPD said if you know anything about the break-ins or have any video you would like to share, you are encouraged to call the department.