ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — A habit many people have when colder weather hits is something that concerns police. They say warming your car up and heading inside makes you easy prey for car thieves.
Police warned a vehicle owner’s inattention goes beyond them potentially becoming a victim — that it could turn deadly.
"Lock your doors, take your valuables out, don't leave your keys in your car, don't leave your fob in your car," urged St. Charles County Police Chief Kurt Frisz.
He said thieves stealing cars on cold winter days is nothing new, yet the number of car thefts continues to rise. He’s also concerned about the personal items being stolen from vehicles, especially guns.
"Residents of St. Charles County are putting guns in the hands of criminals, and it's irresponsible,” the police chief said. “That firearm does no good when you are in your house and in your bed at night and you're leaving your doors unlocked.”
This is an issue seen throughout the St. Louis area. Seven vehicles were stolen during the morning commute on Feb. 2 in the St. Peters area. Four were found but authorities said this needs to stop.
In St. Louis County there were 1,304 total vehicle thefts in 2019 and that number rose to 1,638 in 2020, which amounts to an increase of approximately 25.6%.
In unincorporated St. Charles County, there were 88 car thefts in 2019 and in 2020 there were 148. That does not include nearby municipalities in St. Charles.
Jefferson County officials said they have seen this same problem rise, as have counties on the Illinois side of the river.
While the City of St. Louis saw a slight decrease from 2019 to 2020, the numbers still topped more than 4,500.
Police are asking residents to think about what could go wrong with what seems like a simple act of warming up the car, whether at home, work or leaving it running during a trip inside a gas station.
"They think they're safe,” said St. Louis County police detective Michael Nickolaus. “They take the key fob with them but leave the car running. Most [vehicle] makes we're finding can be driven away and as long as the vehicle's not turned off, it will continue to run until it is out of gas."
In one theft, Nickolaus said all it took was a woman bending down to put air in her tires and her car was gone.
Another trend police are seeing is with delivery drivers. During the pandemic, more deliveries are being made to homes and businesses, and those drivers are being watched closely.
"We have had delivery drivers that have had their vehicles stolen while they were making their delivery,” said Nickolaus. “We've also had fictitious orders placed where they know nobody is home or they know it's a vacant address and there are people set up waiting for the delivery person to show up and as soon as they get out of their car, they go up and steal the vehicle.”
Police also need the help of business owners. Chief Frisz said credit cards need to be matched to licenses, but that seems to have gone by the wayside.
"If the shop owners and our retail outlets would check IDs, that would help. These credit cards are too easy to swipe and tap now,” he explained.
Authorities are pleading that residents make a conscience effort to prevent these crimes. Detective Nickolaus said purses, laptops and other personal items are being left in cars with the vehicles unlocked and keys and key fobs inside the car.
“The dangerous thing is firearms are being left in the car, and when stolen, those firearms are being used in assaults all across the region and in homicides,” Nickolaus said.