ROGERS, Minn. — In the west metro suburb of Rogers, police are urging caution after a rash of thefts in the past week.
"We've had 10 vehicle thefts, four burglaries," Captain Jeff Beck with the Rogers police department said. "They're looking for the simple items of credit cards or cash or something they could quickly get rid of."
Beck says the department's investigators don't believe thieves are looking to steal cars, simply the items inside. There's a frustrating angle to this for them – people are simply leaving their car doors unlocked, allowing thieves access.
"They're just simply walking down the street and seeing what vehicles are open and then taking the opportunity to steal from them," he said.
"Our residents are feeling secure, and might not think that that type of crime is occurring out here, or it's less out here, and that's causing some of the problem," Beck continued.
Thieves are also taking things that can give access to homes.
"Taking garage door openers out of the vehicles, opening the garage," Beck said. "Then stealing out of the vehicles that were in the garage or items that they could get their hands on quickly and disappearing."
Beck says the department is actively looking into this and has increased patrols both in rural and more populated areas of the city. Despite that, he says thieves move quickly, making it hard for them to catch thieves in the act.
It's why he says the department needs the public's help to stop this – and it starts with a simple check to make sure your car is locked at night.
"We need our citizens, not just in the city of Rogers, but everywhere, to start thinking about this as they're going to bed at night, to make sure that we don't give them this easy opportunity," Beck said.