Guilford Police Urge Residents To Lock Car Doors

GUILFORD, CT — The Guilford Police Department is urging residents to lock their car doors and remove valuables after a rash of incidents this month.

According to the department, since the beginning of August, Guilford has had 13 vehicles entered into and one stolen vehicle, which was left unlocked with the keys inside.

Out of the 13 cars entered into, 12 of them were left unlocked. The other vehicle's window was smashed after "a potential item of value" was left in plain view, police said.

In some cases, suspects tried to open multiple vehicles in the victim's driveway that were locked before they eventually found an unlocked vehicle, police noted.

Police posted security camera footage of suspects trying to enter various vehicles.

"We know we sound like a broken record, but we cannot stress enough the importance of locking your cars, all the time. And not only that, but also taking your keys, and hiding or (ideally) removing all valuables from inside your car when possible. We’ve found that by and large, when a thief checks a door handle and encounters a locked car, they will generally just move on."

Residents should be mindful of locking their car doors all the time, police said, even in safe neighborhoods, while pumping gas, or just running into the store.

"Day or night, it doesn’t matter," police said. "Lock ‘em up."