BANGOR, Maine — With warmer weather comes more people walking the streets and more opportunity for them to break into vehicles that have not been locked, Bangor police Sgt. Bob Bishop said Saturday.
“We have so many people wandering around at night you have a good chance of losing” items left in unlocked cars, the sergeant said. “If you want to take care of your property — lock it up.”
A local transient was arrested Friday morning for burglary to a motor vehicle and since his arrest Bangor has seen five additional car burglary reports, Bishop said.
Josh Gray, 31, was arrested and charged with car burglary after a Bangor Gardens-Kenduskeag Gardens area resident called police to say a thief was going through his daughter’s car.
Six residents in the area reported missing items from their vehicles between 6:40 and 9:30 a.m., when Gray was found walking down the street with three bags of goods, some stolen. Gray remained at Penobscot County Jail on Saturday, a jail official said.
Electronics, including GPS systems and cellphones, money and CDs are items commonly taken. People should remove everything from their vehicles that they care about losing, Bishop said.
“You might not lose it tonight but you’ll lose it” eventually, the sergeant said. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)
Bangor needs a “bait car”….
Or people could just simply lock their vehicles. I’ve lived in Bangor for years and nobody has ever stole anything from my vehicle.
Unfortunately, locking your car won’t deter someone with the means of getting in. I had a car broken into twice, even though it was locked both times.
But it keeps out the random person who is looking for an unlocked car and I have to ask. What did you leave in plain view for someone to break into your vehicle?
Some people will scrounge around for anything, including loose change.
It keeps out the one’s doing a large sting and don’t want to take too long on one vehicle.
I find keeping a car trashed keeps everyone but the police out. Criminals don’t want to go through trash, it’s not worth anything, but police will???
I leave nothing worth taking in my vehicle. and I don’t lock it… because rocks quickly circumvent locks when there are windows involved.
Lock it or lose it!
“you might not lose it tonight…but you will eventually”
good job bangor pd…
So are people so numb they think 8-10 police officers on duty at night can patrol every square inch of Bangor while dealing with traffic stops, domestics, noise complaints, fights, theft, and so much more? Please. If you don’t take care of what is yours and protect yourself then you will eventually be a victim. People need to smarten up.
Evidently they are not dealing with thefts, they are asking residents to deal with thefts by locking their vehicles
How exactly are the P.D. supposed to protect and monitor the 5000-odd vehicles in Bangor all at the same time? Stupid comment.
This “car prowling” is just a symptom of a larger crime problem in the area, it’s my fault if somebody breaks into my vehicle? I would think an increased focus on trying to solve these crimes would be the reaction instead of “lock your car”
>>>>>
lock it and carry a weapon.
One headline “Burglar bandaged after birdshot removed from buttocks” would discourage a few folks from rummaging through vehicles.
So citizens are being robbed, and the best police can do is blame the victims for not locking their cars?
As a veteran car parker on the streets of New York City (where I was never a victim of crime) my suggestion is that you do not “lock your car doors. Instead take all your valuables OUT of the car when it is not in use. I had a large airline bag for this duty.
If you “lock” your car, the thieves will just break the window, or pull your door lock (a fantastically easy task) then you will have to spend time and money getting this stuff fixed.
Cars can never be totally secure. Treat them like you would the path in front of your house. Don’t leave ANYTHING in your car you would not leave on your path.
The increase in crime due in part to Bangor and Maine giving free food and housing to criminals is just one of the reasons we left Maine last year – in addition to ridiculous taxes (that pay to feed and house convicted child molesters and other criminals) and, of course, the high number of sex offenders in Bangor. Bangor is the sex offender capital of Maine, housing more sex offenders than even Portland, which has double the population of Bangor.
You left Maine and still feel the need to virtually return.
Strange