By Blake Haas
NORMAL – Car theft is on the rise in the twin cities, and a Normal Police spokesperson is calling it “a crime of opportunity.”
As incidents increase, Normal Police Public Information Officer Brady Park encourages everyone to lock car doors at night and make sure no valuables are left behind in the vehicle.
“We try to tell people over and over, don’t leave your vehicle running; it doesn’t matter if you are a delivery person for a business and you are going to be inside for 30 seconds to make a delivery. There are definitely times where those vehicles, delivery vehicles, are stolen because they are left running.”
According to Park, another crime on the rise is the theft of catalytic converters, which thieves take to sell for money.
“The catalytic converter theft, those do come in waves also,” Park told WJBC’s Marc Strauss. “We believe that there are crews that travel around the county and not just the Midwest but all around the country that kind of come in and do those. And the message we want to get out on those is if you see something say something.”
Park said police departments around the country are establishing tasks force to identify the suspects allegedly stealing the converters.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
