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City of Bartlesville

Posted: Aug 05, 2020 11:20 AMUpdated: Aug 05, 2020 11:30 AM

BPD Warns of High Influx in Vehicle Burglaries

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Garrett Giles

The Bartlesville Police Department would like to make citizens aware that the city has been experiencing a higher influx in vehicle burglaries.

Sergeant Daniel Elkins said a majority of cases have involved unlocked vehicles that contained firearms. He said the BPD's number one advice to citizens would be to lock your car. Locking your car drastically reduces your chances of being a victim of burglary

Sgt. Elkins also advised that you should take valuable items like firearms out of your car when it is unoccupied. He said the suspects burglarizing the cars are successfully retrieving approximately five firearms a week through unlocked vehicles.

Other valuable items are being stolen as well. Sgt. Elkins and the BPD said it is not good to have a high number of stolen firearms in the streets and in the hands of criminals.

There have been 73 vehicle burglaries in Bartlesville this summer. The Bartlesville Police Department is asking for help from anyone who has a home surveillance system to review their video through the night hours to check if the system has captured criminal or suspicious activity. The BPD said it could help their Criminal Investigation Division in solving the car burglaries.

Even if you or anyone in your community hasn't been a victim of vehicle burglary, Sgt. Elkins said they may be able to identify suspicious activity in Bartlesville that would lead them to an arrest. He said if they can find anything like timing, physical descriptions, area, and clothing, on your surveillance video, it could greatly help the BPD with their investigation.

Sgt. Elkins said he believes that crime incubates crime. He said he shared with his investigation team the burglary case in August 2018 that led to the homicide of a Bartlesville citizen - Gregg Meidl. Terry Donaldson Jr. was found guilty of first degree murder in that case in February 2020.

With crime comes more crime. Sgt. Elkins said if the BPD can reduce vehicle burglaries in Bartlesville, they can reduce crime across the board. He said that will keep everyone safer in Bartlesville.

Information can be reported to directly to the Criminal Investigation Division at 918.338.4015 or to the Bartlesville Police Department at 918.338.4001.


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