Branson Chiefs Warn Lock Up Your Car

By Cliff Sain
BDN Staff Writer

Law enforcement officials stress that car owners can prevent many of the car thefts in the Branson area.

Hollister Police Chief Darren Parker said that since arriving in Hollister more than a year ago, he has been surprised at what he deems a "rash" of stolen vehicles in the area. He said that through July, the Hollister Police Department had reports of 11 stolen vehicles. He said that last week, a maintenance vehicle was stolen from the Hollister School District. The good news, however, is that it is easy for motorists to guard against theft.

"In the vast majority of cases, everything was left unsecured," Parker said. "I'd say that in about 50 percent of the cases, the keys were left in the car."

In Branson, 30 cars had been stolen through September. That pace is consistent with 2004 when 31 cars had been stolen through the same period.

Although some locked cars do get stolen, Branson Police Chief Caroll McCullough said the majority of cases could be prevented.

"Don't make it easy for these people," McCullough said. "Lock your vehicles."

In Branson's most recent case, a 1998 Toyota Corolla was stolen Tuesday from behind a Branson shopping mall while the owners were inside the mall. It was recovered Friday in a Branson hotel parking lot.

"We were only in about 20 minutes," car owner Jessie Estrada said. "My digital camera, my wallet and our cell phones were still in the car."

She said the department told her that video surveillance had shown a person approach the car from a field and enter through the passenger side.

"I love that car," she said. "It's almost paid off."


McCullough said that as with Estrada's car, most cars that are stolen are eventually recovered. However, Estrada was lucky in that the car was still in good condition and most of the valuables inside were still there.

"A lot of them we'll find abandoned. We'll find them in other states, wrecked or in a traffic stop," he said.

Parker said that, while the chances of a car being stolen are still unlikely, an even bigger concern for most people should be theft of items inside a car.

"That's almost a daily occurrence," he said. "These are crimes of opportunity. If the owner will take a second to clear valuables from view and lock their doors, that would take care of the problems."

Story created Nov 05, 2005 - 09:16:55 CST.