Rise in opportunity crimes highlights importance of keeping valuables safe
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – College Station Police are crediting students returning to campus with a rise in what they call ‘crimes of opportunity’.
An overnight car theft in the Barracks might shed light on just how people can fall victim. Rachel Zgabay spent the night at a friend’s house near the Barracks in College Station. The next morning, they discovered someone went through their cars.
When reviewing security camera footage, it showed someone walking down the block around 5:00 a.m. checking door handles on every car. When the person gets to Zgabay’s unlocked car, they begin rifling through her things.
“I felt very like violated I guess or insecure that someone had just been in my things, that I didn’t like. So it didn’t feel great but it wasn’t shocking seeing the video knowing that it wasn’t me who went through my stuff,” she said.
Zgabay says luckily, she didn’t have much for the person to take.
College Station Police Officer, David Simmons, said this highlights just how important it is to make sure those doors are locked before going to bed.
“There’s a rise in the crime of opportunity for unlocked vehicles. Right now, we’re here at the barracks, which is one of the locations that kind of got hit over the weekend. That being said, you know, we’re just really pushing for people to understand that at 9 p.m. go check your cars, make sure they’re locked, make sure your keys are out of them, make sure you’re valuables are out of them,” he said.
Simmons also stressed the importance of never leaving a firearm in a vehicle unattended.
