By Rick Palsgrove
Southeast Editor
The Groveport Police are working to track down the suspects behind a rash of vehicle break-ins in Groveport.
Groveport Police Chief Ralph Portier said there recently have been about such 20 incidents scattered throughout the city.
“The primary target areas have been Founders Bend, Elmont Place, Hickory Grove, Grove Pointe and the old village area,” said Portier.
Portier said most of the vehicle break-ins are taking place between 2-6 a.m.
He said in most cases miscellaneous items have been stolen from the vehicles that have been parked on the street as well as in driveways.
“Also, two cars have been stolen with one recovered,” said Portier. “We have sent the other missing car information for all police agencies to look out for it.”
Portier said the police are not sure if the crimes are being committed by the same culprits or randomly, but no suspect information is available at this time.
“Our concern is that it is highly possible that neighborhood kids are also involved,” said Portier. “We have received a couple of videos and still pictures, which we are reviewing at this time. We added officers to help cover the shift and plan on random additional patrols. Unfortunately we cannot be at every house, but our officers stay in the residential areas throughout the night.”
If any resident has had their car entered in the last week, Portier encourages them to call the police non-emergency line at (614) 830-2060 and leave their information, including their vehicle information even if nothing has been taken. Information can also be emailed to chief@groveport.org.
“We take these events personally and have changed our patrol strategies to stay in the residential areas as much as possible, but it is totally impossible to be everywhere,” said Portier. “We need to work with our residents to control this behavior. To the bad guys, look out. Our community has made demands that we protect them and we aim to do that. If you live in our community and are doing these crimes, the public information act could embarrass you and your family.”
Portier offered these recommendations to help reduce crime: lock your vehicles, keep garage doors closed, leave front porch lights on, use motion sensors, report suspicious activity immediately, know where your kids are at night, and check your kids’ personal items – do they have something new or a sudden amount of cash and coins or a change of friends?
Call 9-1-1 for emergencies and (614) 525-3333 for non-emergencies.
