HINESBURG, Vt. (WCAX) – Police are warning Hinesburg area residents to take extra steps to protect their property. It comes as authorities say car thefts and overall call volume have quadrupled in just the last year.
“It’s frustrating but we’re not immune to this,” said Dan Shepardson, who has lived and worked in the Hinesburg area since the late ‘90s.
Shepardson says back then, doors could stay unlocked and that overall safety was less of a concern. But last month while he was away on a trip, the issue hit too close to home. “My wife texted me and said, ‘Do you remember the license plate number on the camper? I can’t go look because it’s been stolen,’” he said.
That was the first time. Then, Shepardson says two weeks later, after police recovered the RV, it was stolen again. “It was locked, so he must have stashed the keys somewhere. So, he came back and backed it into that tree down there. Then, there’s ruts across my yard heading up to the end of that road, which is a dead end,” he said. “I found it backed into a ditch into a bunch of trees.” He says the camper had more than $17,000 in damage.
In other cases in town, the would-be thieves were not so successful. Video captured on Allen Bickmore’s home surveillance cameras earlier this month had foks scoping out his Hinesburg property. He thinks people are becoming more brazen. “I’ve had people go right up to my front door. They’re not afraid to go wherever they want,” he said.
The Hinesburg Police have received more than 50 reports of cars stolen or recovered so far this year, four times higher than last year. In 2022, police say they had four cases. And way back in 2021, it was only one.
“A lot of it does surround substance abuse. And things are just changing, towns change,” said Hinesburg Police Chief Anthony Cambridge. He says his department is seeing an increase in call volume. “We’re going to continue to try to keep that number as low as possible and I hope it doesn’t keep going.”
He urges residents to lock doors and windows, don’t leave keys in vehicles, and install cameras.