The Silver Spring Penguin

Drivers should fortify their parked cars with steering-wheel locks, alarms and common sense before walking away, Silver Spring’s top cop said Thursday.

The advice comes after 43 vehicles were reported stolen in the third police district since the beginning of the month.

“People are leaving their cars running” as they dash into stores for quick buys, Cmdr Betsy Davis told the urban district advisory committee. She also cited unlocked car doors as an invitation for theft.

According to the most recent crime report, five cars were stolen in south and east Silver Spring within a nine-day period. During that same period, three vehicles were stolen in Woodside Park, and one each in Montgomery Knolls and Indian Spring.

Seven auto break-ins also were reported on Thayer Avenue, East Silver Spring, during that period. The crime report does not describe how the vehicles were broken into or what, if anything, was stolen.

One feature that attracts auto thieves is GPS, a handheld or dashboard-mounted navigation aid. Vera White, the area’s new chief prosecutor, said placing the GPS unit out of view in a glove compartment doesn’t necessarily deter thieves.

“There’s an antenna [on the vehicle] that lets people know there’s a GPS inside,” she told the committee.

Toyotas and Hondas are thieves’ primary targets, Davis said. Dodge sedans and mini-vans are also high on the hit list, according to the crime report.