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Uploaded: Friday, March 4, 2011, 4:02 PM
Updated: Sunday, March 6, 2011, 11:08 AM
Danville PD investigating string of thefts
Items stolen from several unlocked autos Thursday night
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by Jessica Lipsky
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 | Investigators with the Danville Police Department are seeking information on a series of thefts to automobile that occurred in the early morning hours on March 3, 2011.
Police Chief Steve Simpkins said a total of seven autos were entered in the areas of Claridge Drive, Alicante Place, Aptos Place and Balceta Court between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Thursday morning.
Among the items taken were electronic game equipment, credit cards, GPS devices, purses and garage door openers. One of the garage door openers was used to open the garage and steal more property.
While detectives were investigating this incident, Danville PD Volunteers went door to door in the affected neighborhoods distributing fliers to raise awareness about the need to be cautious with locking doors and securing property.
"The thing to bear in mind with these incidents is that they were preventable," said Simpkins. "The Danville Police Department encourages residents to secure their property. Lock your car and house and definitely don't leave valuables in plain view in cars."
Simpkins said another way to discourage thieves is to organize as a community. Any person or persons interested in organizing a Neighborhood Watch can contact the 314-3707.
Anyone with information on the Thursday thefts is encouraged to contact Detective Ben Alldritt at (925) 3710 or balldritt@danville.ca.gov. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by Tom, a resident of the Diablo neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2011 at 9:30 am Great, now let's get back to the cases that have been dragging on for two years.
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Posted by JCS, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 7, 2011 at 8:37 am Come on now! Mr. Simpkins does not need to put the blame on the victims... of course we should know to lock our car doors, but this is not the first of these type of thefts. Since I have been living in this neighborhood (9 years) this has been a very common type of theft. Just last week in broad daylight a neighbor left his car running on his driveway, ran into the house for 2 minutes and came out to see his car being driven away. Yes, we may suffer from a false sense of security, because we live in a "safe" area, but... Let's do a better job of patrolling the area, add some more shifts... Catch someone finally, punish them and publicize the punishment and the fact that the police are patrolling more... Do something Police Chief!!!
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Posted by Louise, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 7, 2011 at 12:13 pm JCS: What?!! You want to blame the police for not providing 24 hour patrols, instead of blaming the "victims" who could have secured their own property?? AND, you want the taxpayers to front spending MORE money to capture, prosecute, and prevent this kind of preventable theft? I'm sorry, I think we have more important things to spend our money on.... Thanks Danville Weekly for running the story to help remind us to secure our own valuables.
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Posted by Ellen, a member of the Greenbrook Elementary School community, on Mar 7, 2011 at 12:21 pm PEOPLE need to be more responsible! Adding more patrols is not going to eliminate those burglaries of opportunity! Don't leave your car running or onlocked! That's just common sense!
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Posted by Marie, a member of the Greenbrook Elementary School community, on Mar 8, 2011 at 8:39 am Maybe a better use of the Danville Police Dept. time would be to spend a little less time hiding at stop signs, trying to catch moms not making "complete stops" as they take and pick up their kids from school, and more time patrolling neighborhoods....
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Posted by samiam, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 9, 2011 at 12:13 pm Interesting, when a similar situation happened in my old neighborhood, the police department set up a community meeting, discussed what people could do and sent out a few extra neighborhood patrols. Of course, the police chief lived in the neighborhood, so that might have helped. The police department was locally controlled which also might have helped. I have noticed that I do not see neighborhood patrols in Danville. Why? It is not a particularly difficult task and it does make us feel safer.
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