The Festus City Council has amended its vehicle tampering ordinance, making it illegal for someone to lift the handle on a vehicle that belongs to someone else who has not given permission to enter the particular vehicle.
Those found on Festus lifting handles on vehicles that don’t belong to them may now be charged with a class A misdemeanor.
Someone convicted of the misdemeanor may be sentenced to up to one year in jail and/or fined up to $2,000, Festus Police Chief Doug Wendel said.
“Basically, it makes it illegal to walk around and try to open vehicle doors looking to gain entry,” he said. “There wasn’t a specific ordinance before, for a specific charge. This makes it a misdemeanor.”
The Festus City Council voted unanimously June 26 to make the change to its tampering ordinance, which now includes a section that says tampering includes: “a. The act of lifting door handles or otherwise trying the doors or locks; or b. The act of attempting to open the trunk.”
The amended ordinance went into effect immediately after Mayor Sam Richards signed it on June 26.
Wendel said the amended ordinance gives officers a new tool they can use to deal with potential vehicle thieves or those attempting to steal items left inside vehicles.
“We’ll get reports of people or groups of people doing it,” he said. “Before, you just had to try to find something on them that they stole. Now, they can be charged with just trying the handles.”