Winter Car Theft

The holiday season isn’t just holiday cheer and hot chocolate. The cold weather is prime time for “warm-up thefts”.

It’s not uncommon for drivers to leave their cars running to warm up as they prepare to leave the house on a cold winter morning or leave them running to stay warm as they run into a store. Unfortunately for the owner, an unattended vehicle left running with the keys inside is an inviting opportunity for car theft.

“For this year current to date we have had 177 motor vehicle thefts,” stated Sgt. Lubers.

During winter car theft rises by 25% according to Alex Lauderdale, a transportation analyst at educated driver.org.

“The biggest thing that we see is that either the keys were left in overnight, or they are warming it up in the morning or they ran into the store or ran back inside for something really quick and left it unattended and it was taken.”

The winter weather has made its presence in the queen city and meridian residents who like to run their cars in the morning to keep warm tell us how they protect them from car thieves.

“I honestly never thought about how I keep it safe from car thieves, I live good ways off the roads in the country so anyone around my house any way they are in danger, so I really don’t worry about it,” stated Justin Brewer.

Rufus Griggs said, “I lock it you know, and let it run and make sure that it’s locked then I go back and unlock it because you know now things are happening so fast so it’s best to be safe than sorry.”

Sgt. Lubers of The Meridian Police Department has some tips and advice on how you can stay warm while also keeping your vehicle safe.

“There are other ways you can invest in remote starts to warm your vehicle or a simple or easier way you can just get a door key made so you can lock your vehicle while it’s warming up.”

Always remember to never leave your vehicle running unlocked and unattended even just for a minute."

Following these simple tips will help keep you from being left out in the cold.