Thieves Target Unlocked Cars in Munson Township
Due to a rash of thefts in Munson and Auburn townships, Geauga County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Eric Pavlick urged residents to lock doors, windows and, especially, their cars.
Due to a rash of thefts in Munson and Auburn townships, Geauga County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Eric Pavlick urged residents to lock doors, windows and, especially, their cars.
Pavlick told Munson Township trustees Oct. 10 unknown persons have been stealing purses and wallets out of parked cars in the last few weeks, with three or four of the thefts reported in one day.
“The victims of these thefts are leaving their cars unlocked. We all think we lived in Munson Township and nothing ever happens in Munson,” he said.
The thieves are not going into houses or outbuildings, as far as anyone knows, Pavlick said.
If they go around “pulling on door handles” and find a car unlocked, they rifle through the contents and take cash and credit cards.
The cash often goes to buy drugs, he said, but the credit cards are used as soon as possible, he said.
“They are using them right off the bat,” Pavlick said, adding people should take precautions, put fraud alerts on their accounts and call law enforcement as soon as they notice anything that seems wrong.
“The sooner we get the information, the sooner this can be resolved,” he said.
Many stores or gas stations have cameras and, if the sheriff’s department gets information of fraud soon enough, they can track where the cards were used and possibly get an identity of the thief, Pavlick said.
“We can’t be everywhere. It’s up to you guys to help us out,” he said.
In other business, Linda Miller, of Hawthorne Lane, asked trustees to prohibit the cultivation, processing and distribution of marijuana in Munson Township.
Her organization, Citizens Against Marijuana, is talking to all the township boards of trustees, explaining marijuana use leads to the use of other illegal drugs and compounds problems for those who also use alcohol.
