Holiday Grinch Steals from Unlocked Garages, Vehicles

A thin layer of snow is dusted across the driveway, just enough to shovel. You bundle up in scarf, hat, boots and shovel and head out to get rid of the fluff. Two steps out the door, there are footprints in the snow leading to your car, and they're not yours.

This is what happened to a several Fox Point residents last week.

Police believe an unidentified person entered a total of eight unlocked vehicles and garages, most on Santa Monica Boulevard and Longacre Road.

Known only by the footprint left in the snow showing a clear Adidas symbol, this perpetrator has still eluded police. The only potential witness is a Department of Public Works employee who, according to the police report, says he was plowing snow at roughly 4:45 a.m. Dec. 10, and saw a man with a red bag riding a bicycle through the snowy streets.

The first reported incident was in the 7600 block of Santa Monica Boulevard. The owner of this home found that a bicycle valued at $300 had been taken from his unlocked garage, along with loose change from his unlocked vehicle. His daughter went out to her car in the morning to find the glove box and center console open, and a $10 bottle of wine missing.

This incident was similar to other reports in the community - right down to the footprints. In each case, the garage or vehicle was left unlocked and the perpetrator rifled through their property in the early morning.

Other thefts that morning were:

• Black women's Trek bike valued at $400 from 7400 block of Santa Monica Boulevard.
• Cash from the 7300 block of Longacre Road. 
• A GPS valued at $300 from the 7100 block of Longacre Road.
• A GPS valued at $125, iPod Nano valued at $75, radar detector valued at $100, Oakley Sunglasses valued at $200, loose change and a Leatherman tool valued at $30 from 7500 block of N. Crossway Road.
• Running shoes valued at $100 from the 7700 block of Santa Monica Boulevard.
• Personal electronics, loose change, a red iPod Nano, U2 Edition iPod and docking station from the 7600 block of N. Boyd Way. (Values not supplied to police yet.)

When investigating one of the unauthorized entries, police opened the resident's car door and a gray fleece glove fell out. The owner of the vehicle said it was not hers.

She told police that although her glove box and center console were left open, the criminal did not take her purse or wallet that were left on the seat.

"We highly recommend that residents lock their car doors, doors to garages and doors to houses and report any suspicious activity immediately," said Fox Point Police Chief Tom Czaja.