12 Vehicle Break-ins over the Weekend

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Du Quoin Police Department is seeking the public's help in trying to solve 12 weekend vehicle break-ins and the theft of a red Honda 4-wheeler from the Du Quoin Baseball, Inc. storage building at Lion's Field on the city's west side.

Assistant Chief of Police Jamie Ellermeyer said the vehicle burglaries all took place between late Saturday night and the early morning hours on Sunday.

The targeted areas were the 600 and 700 blocks of North Washington Street, the 600 and 700 blocks of North Division Street, Roosevelt Street, the east end of Pawnee Drive, and Spring Lane off of North Leonard Street near the Gospel Assembly Church.

Ellermeyer said most of the breakins were reported to the police department at approximately 11 a.m. or later on Sunday.

Ellermeyer said all of the vehicles were unlocked and things like loose change, personal belongings and a Cirrus satellite radio unit were taken out of the seats. No vehicles were damaged during the burglaries.

The four-wheeler from Lions Field could have been removed from the storage shed on the north side of the complex as early as Friday night. That theft was not discovered until late in the weekend.

Police insist that residents remove items from their cars at night, lock their vehicles, park vehicles in close proximity to the house or well-lighted areas or dog kennels. Motion detecting lights are also helpful as a deterrent.

Police say one resident spotted two individuals near one of the victimized vehicles and the suspects ran away. Police want to identify the suspects and make arrests as soon as possible. If you know of someone in possession of items they wouldn't ordinarily own or can provide descriptions of suspects seen in your area about the time of these incidents please call police at 542-2131.