Sun Staff
The Wytheville Police Department warned local shoppers that Christmastime can too often provide a bounty for thieves.
The department urges shoppers to take extra precautions this season, locking their car doors and not leaving purses or wallets visible from the outside. The police also cautioned not to leave valuables, including cell phones and tablets in a visible place. Other tips include placing packages in the trunk or covering them with a blanket.
According to the department, leaving valuables and gifts in open view gives would-be smash-and-grab thieves an opportunity. So far this year, the department hasn’t had any reports of smash-and-grab activity.
The department routinely makes arrests for shoplifting throughout the year, but says the holidays brings out more looking to score free stuff.
The WPD said that petty thieves are mostly local residents stealing small items on multiple occasions. Store officials often know the suspects and use security footage to create a trail before getting police involved to make an arrest.
Stores are also hit by professionals, though, picking out large items to steal. Those types, the PD says, travel from town to town with a list of items to take. In November, according to the department, the Wytheville Lowe’s was subject to two large thefts.
On Nov. 8, three males were seen bypassing the front registers while wheeling out four pressure washers. A day later, a man was seen walking out with several DeWalt power tools he hadn’t paid for.
The department warned that too good to be true deals often are. Thieves, the WPD said, are looking to get rid of the loot quickly. That great deal on a DeWalt or a power washer might just be stolen property. The department noted that possessing stolen property is a crime.
“Saying I did not know it was stolen will not cut it,” the department wrote on social media.
