— from Sheriff Rob Nou —
Deputies on Orcas Island responded to a series of car prowls over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The victim vehicles were parked in public places around the island, and the crimes occurred both in daylight and hours of darkness. Sadly, damage to the vehicles exceeded the value of the property taken from inside. Purses and backpacks left in plain sight appear to be the common denominator in these crimes.
As deputies work on investigating leads, I would remind people to not leave items of value in view inside a parked car. A crime that may take seconds to occur can cause hours of effort in repairs, cancelling accounts, replacing credit and debit cards, and worrying about subsequent identity theft.
Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 378-4151.
Thanks for the public announcement, so people can be more vigilant…I’m one of the unlucky ones. Things were taken from the front seat of my car while I was enjoying the Olga Symphony Friday night. (wonder if anyone else experienced a theft there?)
Thrown away in a dumpster or in the bushes might be a beige tote bag with a log cabin print on it, a cloth small shoulder pocketbook, about 7×10″, and/or a brown large wallet with the usual in it.
mshaworcas@yahoo.com with any leads…….thanks
I’ve gotten used to locking the car when parked downtown during tourist season. I guess it’s time to start locking it year round. I certainly hope that Orcas hasn’t reached the point of locking your vehicle overnight while parked in your driveway.
But perhaps this was an outlying event by a particular miscreant. Possibly the one that performed the smash and grab at the ferry landing Sunday night. Don’t know if they were caught or not, but if they weren’t let’s hope they were leaving island and not returning.
I neglected to say in my comment above that a pair of Eagle Optics binoculars with shoulder harness was also taken. Will we see it on Ebay?
Very sad indeed. There are rarely any secrets on a small island so it is critical for the perpetrator to be turned in by those who know, even it if it is friends or family. Only a full prosecution and a serious sentence will send a message that this is a crime and not just “hi-jinks.” Otherwise, there will be no deterrent to future worse episodes.
I had a new Honda Generator taken from my storage unit by airport in Oct. Filed a report. I use it to keep chickens warm when we have outrages. Check your storage locks to be sure they lock..especially spring loaded.
Outtages. But yes..outraged!
our truck was hit at Turtleback trailhead on Friday morning. Nothing left inside for thieves to take while we hiked. But they caused $1000 worth of damage to our vehicle trying to pry the door away from the body.
We filed a report with the sheriff. Then stopped by the trailhead on our way back to our inn in deer harbor and saw real damage: another truck had sustained Two broken windows. This well after our departure.