Car burglars strike in Olney

A spate of car burglaries has Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck warning citizens to “lock your cars, take your keys and hide your belongings” to avoid becoming victims.

Police responded to two separate reports of car burglaries on Aug. 7 on Bluebonnet Drive, first at 3:40 a.m. and again at 3:11 p.m., according to police records. They found that a “thief of opportunity” had stolen mostly small items from several vehicles whose doors were unlocked. In one case, however, the thieves stole a gun, Chief Birbeck said.

The gun owner did not have any information about the firearm, so police could not list it as stolen, he said.

A witness to the Bluebonnet thefts described the perpetrators as young males “with shaggy hair,” Chief Birbeck said. “The [thefts] on Bluebonnet are all connected. There was somebody checking door handles. There was one call but several vehicles involved. These are opportunity crimes – they are not breaking windows, they are pulling door handles. That’s why it is so imperative that people lock their cars.”

A second round of thefts was reported on Aug. 8 at 6:17 a.m. on West Payne Street, police records show.