Roanoke County and Salem Police on alert as thieves target holiday shoppers

Each year police say unfortunately Christmas and crime go hand in hand and those bags you’re holding someone else wants to get a hold of.

“The most common types of holiday crimes we see are vehicle break-ins,” said Rick Crosier, Roanoke County Police Officer.
   
Roanoke County says in the past five weeks break-ins haven’t happened at Tanglewood as much as at nearby apartment complexes, but the thieves are getting away with some expensive gifts, such as MP3s, GPSs, and laptops.

In Salem, just last week four car break-ins, that’s up from zero the week before.

“A lot of times they see parking lots as a favorable environment, because they can take what they’re going and they can go,” Crosier said.

Crooks are heading indoors as well.
   
The last week of November, Salem Police responded to one shoplifting crime, but it was up to four cases this past week.

At Tanglewood, Roanoke County says there have been 19 cases of shoplifting at J.C. Penny’s, Belk and T.J. Maxx since November 1.

Even with the increases it’s still not as much as Roanoke County had expected.  They worried thieves would target shoppers even more this year.

“Actually we were expecting more crimes than what we detected so far, so we’ve been on higher alert so to speak, so it’s been a pleasant surprise that it’s not as bad as we thought it would be,” Crosier explained.

It’s not hard to find people who are still making common mistakes that in just seconds can turn them into victims

You’ve heard it before, but police are still reminding people to pay attention, cover up your gifts, and park in a well lit area.

Roanoke County says they are fortunate that this year they haven’t had many person to person crimes.