Police Report Five Vehicle Break-Ins in One Day

Smyrna police reported five vehicle break-ins last Saturday; a number Officer Michael Smith, Smyrna Police Department’s public information officer, said is atypical. Investigators believe that three of the break-ins are related because they occurred in a short timeframe and within a mile of each other.

“To have the broken windows and to have that many entering autos all at once is unusual, especially in one day like that,” he said. “When you see that many in a close proximity, it’s generally the same person.”

Investigators said that between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday three vehicles were broken into at , and . Purses and wallets were stolen from each of the vehicles.

Smith said that the department usually sees vehicle break-ins because drivers leave their vehicles unsecured. However, the perpetrators broke windows to enter vehicles in four of the five break-ins this weekend.

In addition to the three break-ins police believe are related, another break-in occurred near in Smyrna on Saturday. In this incident the perpetrator broke one of the car's windows to steal a purse and other personal belongings from the vehicle.

Smith said the fifth break-in occurred because the driver left the vehicle unlocked in a neighborhood. A GPS was stolen from that vehicle.

“If you don’t have to leave valuables in your vehicle that’s obviously a good idea, but if you do you want to make sure it’s not visible and don’t leave any indication that you have something of value out there,” he said. “If you’re out at a restaurant be mindful when you run back out to your car because you need to grab money out of your purse that people don’t see that you left your purse and ran back into the store. Somebody could be watching.”

Smith said investigators don’t have any leads into any of the break-ins at this time, but that the investigation is ongoing.