Following thefts from cars in the Village of East Williston, Nassau County police are trying to get the point across that residents need to secure their vehicles.
“Larcenies from unlocked autos are a countywide problem,” a Nassau County Police Department spokesperson said in a statement.
On Jan. 23 at around 2:50 a.m., a man walking through East Williston approached and entered a resident’s BMW parked in their driveway on Williams Street, according to a Facebook post and attached video. Entry of the vehicle, which was unlocked, prompted no alarm to go off.
The man opened and rummaged through the center console of the vehicle before reaching over to the locked glove compartment. The man left the center console open, before closing the door to the vehicle and departing the scene.
According to the post, two other cars were also entered on Roslyn Road at approximately 2:30 a.m. that same night, with video surveillance depicting a suspect resembling the first incident.
Village Mayor David Tanner and the Board of Trustees, as well as trustees in neighboring Village of Williston Park, have urged residents at past meetings to lock their car doors and remove valuables from them, citing those looking for petty cash.
“Bad guys walk down the street and try car doors,” a police spokesperson said. “If your door is locked, they will move on. If the door opens, vehicle is ransacked.”
In 2018, the NCPD launched Operation Natalie, an effort to identify and reduce the number of opioid overdoses in the county. At community meetings, Commissioner Patrick Ryder explained that larcenies from autos are higher in communities where opioid abuse is a problem, police said.
“Addicts need money for heroin and an easy way to get cash is to go through unlocked cars,” a police spokesperson said. “We can actually show that by going after the heroin dealers in these neighborhoods, larcenies have gone down as well as overdoses.”
Police advise that residents should remove anything of value from their vehicles overnight and that vehicles should always be secured.
