RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond police are warning about an increase in thefts from vehicles at construction sites across the city, with thieves specifically targeting cars belonging to construction workers.
The crimes typically occur when employees carpool to job sites and leave their vehicles unlocked for convenience throughout the workday.
"If they have multiple occupants, it's more so convenient to keep the car or the truck unlocked so that throughout the shift you can go back and forth to grab a bite to eat, snack, take a break," Lt. Marvin Marsh said.
Thieves are testing door handles and stealing contents from unlocked vehicles.
"Oddly enough, we have not seen incidents involving our work sites where they're actually breaking the car window or damaging the car. All of our incidents it's a simple tug on the door handle," Marsh said.
Richmond Police Department reported nine of these incidents between January and July 2024. So far this year, detectives have investigated more than 40 instances of thieves stealing from vehicles at work sites.
The crimes are occurring throughout Richmond, according to police.
"They're very brazen. So oftentimes the victim is an eye shot of the vehicle, but these guys are still showing up during the daytime hours and conducting these thefts," Marsh said.
In some cases, construction workers have approached suspects during the crime, causing situations to quickly turn violent.
Marsh urges victims not to confront suspects but instead gather information including license plate numbers and descriptions of what suspects are wearing.
"We do not want there to be a confrontation. The concern is that it could end up being a deadly confrontation if that occurs," he warned.
Richmond police encourage drivers to always lock their cars, never leave valuables inside vehicles, and take their keys with them.
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