Williamsburg, VA 23188
Williamsburg, VA 23188
4460 Longhill Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188
Williamsburg, VA 23188
The James City County Police Department is investigating another round of reported thefts from vehicles, though investigators are still determining whether the latest reports are connected to a wave of the thefts earlier this month.
Four thefts were reported in the Powhatan Secondary neighborhood overnight between Sept. 16 and 17. All of the vehicles were unlocked. A violin along with its case and bow valued at a total of $9,200 was stolen from one of those vehicles. Clothing, iPhone cables and a power inverter were among the items stolen from the other vehicles, said Stephanie Williams-Ortery of the James City County Police Department.
On the morning of Sept. 18, a woman in Greensprings West took her purse containing $4,000 and an iPad to her car at about 7 a.m. She turned on the vehicle and left the purse in the unlocked car for 45 minutes before returning to the vehicle to find the purse missing. Williams-Ortery said that incident is not believed to be connected to the other thefts from vehicles.
Later that day, officers were sent to the Stonehouse RV Storage Lot near the Stonehouse neighborhood after seven RVs and a boat were reportedly broken into. Williams-Ortery said a Stonehouse security officer noticed broken windows on the vehicles. Several televisions, valued at more than $1,000 combined, were stolen from the vehicles.
Sometime between Sept. 13 and 16, a firearm and its holster were taken from an unlocked vehicle on the 100 block of Clarendon Court in the Windsor Forest neighborhood.
Investigators are also looking for information after catalytic converters were stolen from vehicles at two locations.
The first incident occurred overnight between Sept. 16 and 17 at Lafayette High School. Someone tried to steal the catalytic converter from a 2007 Chevrolet Impala owned by Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools. The thief was unable to get the catalytic converter out, but he or she caused $150 in damage. The suspected thief was able to extract the catalytic converter from a 2002 Chevrolet Impala owned by WJCC, causing $350 in damage to the car on top of the $150 cost of a new catalytic converter, Williams-Ortery said.
The second incident took place sometime between 5 p.m. Sept. 19 and 10 a.m. Sept. 22 at Williamsburg Honda on Richmond Road. Catalytic converters were stolen from four new Honda Pilots on the lot. The value of the four catalytic converters is a combined $800. The vehicles suffered $3,700 in damage.
Williams-Ortery said investigators are not sure if those incidents are connected or if they are connected to the larger wave of thefts from vehicles.
She encouraged citizens to not leave valuables in their cars and to make sure vehicles are locked at all times, even at home.
“Most of these crimes are crimes of opportunity,” she said. “We’re finding cases where unlocked vehicles are rummaged through. If the door is unlocked, these people are taking the opportunity to go through the car and look for something even if there’s not something in plain sight. We encourage people to lock their doors whether they have anything in their car or not.”
Prior to these incidents, investigators were already looking into more than 40 incidents of vehicles being tampered with or broken into between Sept. 1 and 12. Break-ins occurred in St. George’s Hundred, Graylin Woods, Kingsmill, Lanexa, Monticello Woods and Scott’s Pond, though they are not all necessarily connected.
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