Thieves raid unlocked cars in North Aurora

North Aurora police said, while they are happy many people have the feeling that they are safe and secure in their neighborhoods, they are requesting people to lock their car and home doors at night to deter future thefts.

Ofc. Robyn Stecklein of the North Aurora Police Department said five burglaries have been reported in the last week in North Aurora because people have left expensive items in their cars but left their car doors unlocked.

Most of the thefts have taken place on the east side of North Aurora, she said, late at night.

She said thieves simply run through a neighborhood at night, going from car to car, looking inside for any expensive gadgets - like GPS devices, cell phones, laptops and mp3 players.

Then, if they see something, the thief tries to open the doors of the car. If a door is unlocked, the thief reaches in, swipes the gadget, and runs away without anyone knowing.

"It seems like common sense to lock your car doors and not leave things inside the car, but we are getting more and more of these calls," she said. "Lock things up because this is the easiest way to get something valuable stolen."

She said bands of thieves travel into safer neighborhoods to steal, knowing families are more susceptible to leaving car doors unlocked.

She said the best way to stop this from happening is to lock the car doors, and make sure anything valuable is brought inside. Also, make sure the outside of the home is well lit, and always activate your car alarms.

"Thieves will break the glass of the car to get in and steal something, but keeping the doors locked deters them more," she said. "Also, anyone who sees any suspicious people walking around at odd hours of the night are urged to call the police and have it checked out."