CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Clarksville police are reminding the public to make sure vehicles are locked after responding to 11 cases of vehicle theft or burglary over the weekend.
Police said that in each of the cases, keys were left inside the vehicles or they had been left unlocked.
In the first theft case, a man left his car running to warm it up and discovered it gone when he went outside five minutes later.
Another victim went inside an apartment to do laundry and left his keys in an unlocked car. When he came out 10 minutes later, the car was gone. The vehicle was found abandoned the next day with the keys still inside.
In the case of another stolen vehicle, the man said his vehicle was locked, but he had a key fob hidden inside when it was stolen. The vehicle was found abandoned the next morning.
The last of the stolen vehicles was taken from an apartment complex after a man visiting a friend left his keys inside the car, and when he came out the next morning it was gone.
Police said mostly documents were stolen in the thefts, but one victim had a gun stolen from a vehicle. It has not been recovered.
Additionally, there were six vehicle burglaries over the weekend, in which five of the vehicles did not have any signs of forced entry or were left unlocked.
Clarksville police spokesman Jim Knoll said this is an ongoing problem which could easily be mitigated if the concepts of “Park Smart” were used:
LOCK YOUR VEHICLE
SECURE YOUR VALUABLES
TAKE THE KEYS