Vehicle burglaries have dramatically increased during the past three months in Saline County.
Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said this morning that during the first nine months of 2020, three vehicles in the county were illegally entered. Since Oct. 1, there have been 37 reported cases, he said.
A number of those cases can be attributed to, in part, people leaving valuables in their vehicles and not locking the vehicles.
While Soldan can't positively say that one person is responsible for all of the vehicle burglaries, he does believe they are related.
"My sense is there's some connection," Soldan said this morning.
Soldan also noted that the incidents are not limited to one part of the county.
"We've had them all over the county," he said.
The most recently reported incident occurred sometime between 8 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 7200 block of East Farrelly Road, Soldan said.
Steven Streit, 60, rural Gypsum, reported that during that time frame, someone entered his unlocked vehicle and took the following, Soldan said.
A money bag with $3,005
His wallet that included identification information
A car stereo valued at $50
A LiftMaster remote garage door opener valued at $35
A car battery valued at $25
There also were two additional vehicle burglaries in Kipp, but nothing was reported stolen from those vehicles, Soldan said.