Rapid City is not the South Side of Chicago, but car burglaries are becoming a real problem in the state’s second largest city.
In the last six weeks, 106 car burglaries have been reported in town. Police officials say in the vast majority of these cases, the targeted vehicles were left unlocked.
Tarah Heupel with the Rapid City Police Department says the best way to defend against car burglaries is to always lock your car doors, even if you’re just making a quick stop.
“And then the other big piece is to remove any valuables from your car don’t leave your purse, your wallet or your cell phone or anything like that out in the open where people can see it that’s an open invitation for burglars to come help themselves to your things,” Heupel says.
Heupel says vehicle burglaries are largely preventable. She says most incidents occur after dark, when vehicles are left unlocked, parked outside a home or in a parking lot.