There have been four car break-ins in Park City in the past several weeks. They occurred in the Silver Mountain Sports Club parking lot between the 7:30 to 8:30 am hour. Carolyn Murray has this:
Captain Phil Kirk from the Park City Police Department has spent some time undercover trying to catch the criminals. He said they haven’t had any leads in the “smash and grab” cases so far but often bank cards are used and they can track people down that way.
Kirk said criminals are targeting the area and with the holidays coming up, it’s common to see an increase car break-ins. He said all four cars were locked but there were bags left in plain sight.
“Criminals are targeting this area and you know, health spas and trail heads and places where people are going to be for definite periods of time are vulnerable. I think we all have to do a better job of not keeping valuables stored in our vehicle, especially in plain view. Again, you know, if you have a place like this, the criminal knows you’re going to be in there for a while. And, they can kind of time things, so you’ve got to make sure to not just lock your vehicle, but you’ve got to secure you’re valuables, especially now we are getting into Christmastime.”
Kirk said they didn’t have any witnesses and so they’re not sure exactly what happened, but he said the public can help by locking their vehicles and not leave valuables in there.
He said this kind of crime is commonly associated with drug culture.
“We will get, often times, criminals from down in the valley that drive up here and hit a couple of places and take off. At this point we don’t have any indication that that’s the case with these, but it has happened in the past. Often-times too, it’s that these criminals are heavily involved in the drug culture and their supporting their drug habit by breaking into cars and stealing things because they’re desperate to do anything they can to support their drug habit.”
Kirk said residents can help deter crime with vigilance and that reporting on their undercover work helps them with prevention. Additionally, they are doing undercover work in the High School parking lot to address underage vaping. KPCW has reported on the increase in youth who use e-cigarettes and the harmful health effects.
