Vehicle thefts are on the rise around Jefferson County, according to several county law enforcement agencies.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office saw 81 more vehicles stolen in 2020 than in 2019 inside the agency’s jurisdiction, which includes most of the 660-square-mile area the county encompasses.
The county has a population of about 225,000, with about 70 percent of them living in unincorporated parts of the county, and that is the area the Sheriff’s Office covers.
However, most cities in the county also have seen the number of vehicle thefts and thefts from vehicles increase, according to law enforcement agencies.
Grant Bissell, the Sheriff’s Office public safety information coordinator, said 444 vehicle thefts were reported to the Sheriff’s Office in 2020. He said 363 vehicle thefts were reported in 2019, compared to 316 in 2018.
And, the thefts continue this year.
From Jan. 20 through Jan. 24, the Sheriff’s Office received reports about six stolen vehicles, including ones in unincorporated Fenton, Imperial, Dittmer, Cedar Hill and the Arnold area. Two of those six vehicles have been recovered, the Sheriff’s Office said.
On Sunday, Arnold Police were called at about 8 a.m. to St. John’s Lutheran Church, 3517 Jeffco Blvd., where a victim saw a person dressed in black smashing vehicle windows parked there, Detective Lt. Jason Valentine said.
The suspect broke windows on eight vehicles, causing about $2,800 in damage, and fled the church’s parking lot in a silver passenger car. It appeared nothing had been stolen from the vehicles. As of Monday, the suspect had not been identified, Valentine said.
“We are trending in the wrong direction,” Bissell said.
Arnold Police received reports about 103 vehicles stolen in 2020, compared to 87 thefts in 2019, Valentine said.
Tim Lewis, the Festus police chief, said his city saw a combined 50 vehicles stolen in Festus in 2019 and 2020.
Byrnes Mill Police Chief Frank Selvaggio said that while his city has not seen the same rise in numbers like other parts of the county, there were two incidents in 2020 when it appeared a group went through subdivisions stealing items from several unlocked vehicles.
Unlocked vehicles make easy targets
One reason the theft of vehicles in the county has been so prevalent is because residents often leave them unlocked with the keys inside, according to Sheriff’s Office data.
In 2019, the Sheriff’s Office started keeping track of how many vehicles that were stolen had been left unlocked. The agency also tracks how many thefts were perpetrated by someone who had access to the keys, Bissell said.
Of the 363 stolen vehicles in 2019, Bissell said 304 had either been left unlocked or had been stolen by someone who got access to the keys.
In 2020, 375 of the 444 stolen vehicles were either unlocked or stolen by someone with the keys, Bissell said.
No one or two specific kinds of vehicles are targeted by thieves, Bissell said. “It does not matter the make, model or year,” he said. “They are not targeting any specific vehicle, other than the type that are left unlocked.”
Arnold Police also see a lot of thefts of vehicles left unlocked.
“We are not seeing a lot of ignitions being punched,” Valentine said. “It is a lot of crime of opportunity with people leaving their cars unlocked and the engine running at a gas station when they go inside.”
Thefts from vehicles is also a problem
The Sheriff’s Office also reported 480 thefts from vehicles in 2020, and just like when vehicles are stolen, items are stolen from unlocked vehicles.
“We know from video evidence that the majority of these are not people smashing windows to get to valuables inside,” Bissell said. “It is people checking door handles and that is it. If it is locked, they move on to the next vehicle.”
Municipalities are seeing similar thefts from unlocked vehicles.
Valentine said Arnold Police got reports about 116 thefts from vehicles in 2020, after 113 in 2019.
“The best way to prevent this is to lock your cars and don’t leave your keys in them,” Valentine said.
Festus Police have the same problem, Lewis said. “Most of the thefts we are seeing out of cars is because the victims have either left the car unlocked, left valuables in the car or left keys in the cars,” he said. “We see videos all the time of people going down the street, and if the car is locked, they go on to the next one.”
Bissell said thefts from unlocked vehicles mainly occur in neighborhoods near interstates or highways.
“A place with easy access in and out and near a highway seems to be attractive to suspects,” he said.
Sheriff’s Office officials continue to preach that the best solution to stop the theft of vehicles and items from vehicles is to keep doors locked and to avoid leaving valuables and keys in vehicles.
“It is a message we have been saying a lot, and we need people to hear the message and take it seriously,” Bissell said.
Bissell said some of the thieves come from outside Jefferson County.
“We do know that a good portion of these thefts are happening by people who come to Jefferson County because they know there are a wealth of easy targets,” Bissell said. “People know we live in a safe community and people feel safe enough to leave their doors unlocked. People are preying on that.”
Bissell said if a thief comes to Jefferson County and finds just one car unlocked with the keys inside it, that is an invitation to come back and look for another vehicle to steal.
He also said when groups go through neighborhoods and find 10 percent or more of the vehicles left unlocked and get away with a few items of value, that encourages them to return and try to find more unlocked vehicles in other county neighborhoods.
“It is like when you go fishing,” Bissell said. “When you find that spot, that honey hole, and every time you cast your line in there you are reeling in a fish, why would you not continue to fish in that spot? This is the same type of mentality. If criminals know they are going to get a score every time they come down here, why would they not keep coming down?”
Bissell said the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office takes vehicle thefts seriously, as well as thefts from vehicles, and the office prosecutes every case it can.
However, he also said changes to bonding rules the Missouri Supreme Court approved in 2019 make it more difficult to hold someone in jail who has not committed a violent crime, so many suspected thieves are released after being arrested.
“We may catch them red-handed, but the prosecutor cannot get a judge to issue a bond because it is a nonviolent crime,” Bissell said. “They get booked and released, and they are out there to do it again. Don’t think for a second the bad guys don’t know that as well. It seems like they don’t care that they get caught. They know they will be released.”