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Auto burglars don't take holidays off

A rash of auto burglaries plagued Sonoma last week, with eight incidents reported to police in the span of three days.

Reports of the crime spree began the morning of Dec. 26 when residents in the 1000 block of Fryer Creek Drive reported that their two vehicles - a 2003 Acura and a 2010 Mazda, parked unlocked in front of the house - had been ransacked. A portable Garmin GPS unit, valued at $250, was missing from the Acura.

Later that morning, police received a report from a couple residing in the 600 block of Sherman Court that their two vehicles had been ransacked overnight. Both vehicles were found with the glove boxes open, papers scattered around and, in the husband's car, a wallet left overnight was missing.

The maroon, leather wallet contained a California driver's license, credit cards and a bank debit card. By the time the loss was discovered several purchases had already been made with the man's credit card in Sonoma, Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park, totaling more than $580.

Both of the vehicles had been left unlocked overnight, one in the driveway and one on the street.

At about the same time, police received a report from a resident in the 400 block of San Lorenzo Court who said her leather purse and wallet had been taken from an unlocked Toyota Highlander parked outside her home. The purse and wallet were valued at $500 and one credit card had already been used by the time the loss was discovered.

Four hours later, police received a report from a resident in the 700 block of Charles Van Damme Way, in Armstrong Estates, that three unlocked vehicles had been ransacked, with a portable GPS device missing from one of the cars. The value was estimated at $250.

Then at about 5:45 in the evening, a couple in the 900 block of Fryer Creek Drive reported that two family vehicles, both Audis, had been burglarized. The husband said a tan, leather briefcase containing a Lenovo laptop computer was missing from his car. The wife reported missing a karaoke machine, a microphone and a bag of miscellaneous electronic equipment. Both vehicles had been left unlocked in front of the residence. The combined loss was valued at $1,421.

A day later, on the morning of Dec. 27, policed received a report from a resident in the 200 block of Wilking Way that a Dell laptop computer, in a blue case, had been discovered stolen Christmas day from an unlocked 1991 Honda parked outside the house. No value was placed on the loss.

Later that afternoon, police received a report from residents in the 10 block of Fifth Street West that two cars had been egged three times in prior weeks and that sometime between Dec. 26 and Dec. 28, someone had rifled the contents of a Toyota Prius and had left the gas filler door open, leading them to believe that some gas may have been siphoned.

Finally, on the morning of Dec. 29, police were notified by a resident in the 200 block of Andrieux Street that a Dell laptop computer, along with an external hard drive and a Blackberry cellphone, had been stolen from the trunk of his Ford Fusion sometime between Dec. 23 and Dec. 27.

The victim said he had kept the trunk of the car locked, but that he may have left a car door unlocked or a window open long enough for the car to be entered and the trunk latch released.

The computer was equipped with a GPS homing device that indicated it was now at a house in Santa Rosa, but police were not able to sufficiently determine the accuracy of the GPS to obtain a search warrant for the home.

The computer was value at $1,300, the hard drive was valued at $100 and the cellphone was deemed to have no value because it was broken.

In response to the rash of auto burglaries, Sonoma Police Dept. Sgt. Spencer Crum advised residents to not leave valuables in plain sight in their vehicles, to take extra care to lock their cars when leaving them unattended, and to remove valuables when vehicles are parked overnight.