Thieves thaw in winter
Sarah Zeeck
Issue date: 3/7/07 Section: News
Despite a national trend in which car thefts rise during the winter months, Macomb occurrences remain steady throughout the year.
"We don't really have a huge (car theft) problem here in Macomb. Towns with more violent crime have more vehicle theft," said Detective Matt Gass of the Macomb Police Department. "We get a lot of calls for stolen vehicles. I'd guess that around 95 percent of those are cars that drunken people misplaced."
He added that most of the cases of vehicle theft were alcohol related, and he guessed around two-thirds of them were student related thefts.
"I hate to say that students are the primary car thieves, but I would guess that out of a dozen (thefts), eight were student related."
On campus, there have only been five car thefts within the last two years, according to Robert Fitzgerald, Director of the Office of Public Safety for Western Illinois University.
There are a few reasons behind the small number of thefts that do occur in Macomb. According to McDonough County Sheriff Rick VanBrooker, vehicles are not necessarily stolen for long-term use, but rather as a means to get from one location to another quickly.
"Typically, in my experience, thieves use cars to get from one town to another," VanBrooker said.
Chris Mason, lieutenant with the MPD, added that junk prices have gone up, which may contribute to car theft.
"They take the cars and then strip the metal from them and sell it. There isn't a lot of that in this town though - usually the car is left in pretty good shape," he said.
Only one on-campus vehicle theft has been reported this school year. According to Fitzgerald, a pizza delivery truck was taken from Thompson Hall and then recovered half an hour later at Wetzel Hall.
"In four of the five thefts (over the past two years), keys to the vehicles were used. The best advice is to lock your vehicle, remove your keys and secure your keys where only you have access to them," Fitzgerald said. All officials agreed that to avoid theft, students should not leave their vehicles running or their keys inside them.
"We don't really have a huge (car theft) problem here in Macomb. Towns with more violent crime have more vehicle theft," said Detective Matt Gass of the Macomb Police Department. "We get a lot of calls for stolen vehicles. I'd guess that around 95 percent of those are cars that drunken people misplaced."
He added that most of the cases of vehicle theft were alcohol related, and he guessed around two-thirds of them were student related thefts.
"I hate to say that students are the primary car thieves, but I would guess that out of a dozen (thefts), eight were student related."
On campus, there have only been five car thefts within the last two years, according to Robert Fitzgerald, Director of the Office of Public Safety for Western Illinois University.
There are a few reasons behind the small number of thefts that do occur in Macomb. According to McDonough County Sheriff Rick VanBrooker, vehicles are not necessarily stolen for long-term use, but rather as a means to get from one location to another quickly.
"Typically, in my experience, thieves use cars to get from one town to another," VanBrooker said.
Chris Mason, lieutenant with the MPD, added that junk prices have gone up, which may contribute to car theft.
"They take the cars and then strip the metal from them and sell it. There isn't a lot of that in this town though - usually the car is left in pretty good shape," he said.
Only one on-campus vehicle theft has been reported this school year. According to Fitzgerald, a pizza delivery truck was taken from Thompson Hall and then recovered half an hour later at Wetzel Hall.
"In four of the five thefts (over the past two years), keys to the vehicles were used. The best advice is to lock your vehicle, remove your keys and secure your keys where only you have access to them," Fitzgerald said. All officials agreed that to avoid theft, students should not leave their vehicles running or their keys inside them.
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