Several thefts from vehicles in Seymour late Thursday and early Friday likely are connected, police say.

This follows incidents in Brownstown in which vehicles were stolen but later recovered and items were taken from other vehicles.

In the past few weeks, Seymour Police Department has seen a “huge” increase in thefts from vehicles, Chief Bill Abbott said Friday.

“A majority of them have been unlocked,” he said of the vehicles. “Just last night (Thursday), we probably had three handguns stolen out of vehicles.”

Abbott said officers also recently have responded to incidents in which firearms were stolen from homes.

People should write down serial numbers and take pictures of their firearms and store them somewhere, Abbott said. The same goes for other valuables, including jewelry, stereo equipment and televisions, he added.

“That way, they’ll have it for insurance purposes later,” Abbott said.

Video surveillance also helps police in investigations.

“If they find anything out of the ordinary, even just the number of people (involved in a theft) we can look for is helpful,” he said.

On several occasions, Abbott said, the items stolen from vehicles were not in plain sight, but the vehicles were left unlocked.

“Lock everything that you own up,” he said. “In today’s society, if it’s not locked, somebody’s going to try to steal something from it. Just don’t leave things out in your car where people can see them and give them a reason to steal.”

Several reports of criminal mischief on the south side of Seymour were called into police between 7:27 and 8:13 a.m. Friday.

In the 800 block of South Poplar Street and the 100 block of Stevens Drive, residents reported bricks being thrown through the windows of their vehicles. A purse was stolen in the Stevens Drive incident.

The other report was in the 800 block of South Pine Street and involved theft from a vehicle.

At 3:33 a.m. Friday, someone reported vandalism to a car with theft in the 1400 block of Gaiser Drive.

At 10:34 a.m. Thursday, a man broke out the window of a car in the 1100 block of Cottage Circle, stole a purse and ran. Seven minutes later, someone reported theft from a car in the 600 block of East Second Street.

Then at 12:40 p.m. Thursday, someone broke a window on a vehicle at Circle K on East Oak Street.

A little later Thursday, items were taken from a vehicle while it was parked at Jackson County Superior Court I, and someone broke a window out of a car in the 700 block of South Poplar Street. In the latter incident, the suspect dropped a cellphone at the scene.

Abbott said people need to lock cars, homes, garages and sheds. Police receive more reports of theft in the spring and summer, he added.

“Usually, in the spring, we start seeing it with temperatures getting warm,” he said.

In Brownstown, during the week of July 6, police responded to thefts from vehicles in the Lucas-Ackerman housing addition area on the southeast side of town and to a pair of vehicle thefts.

Wallets, cash and cellphones were among items taken from vehicles, most of which were unlocked, Sgt. John Long said. A landscaping brick was used to break the window of one vehicle.

Two homes were burglarized. Nothing was taken from either home, but items were missing from both garages, Long said. All were unlocked, he added.

Nearby locked homes also showed signs that someone had tried to break in, Long said. Later that week, police continued to receive additional reports of break-ins in the same area.

On July 7, Cpl. Joe Kelly was off-duty when he located one of the stolen vehicles in Seymour and initiated a traffic stop in the area of Oak and Lynn streets. Matthew Hatton, 23, of Seymour was arrested on a charge of auto theft.

Shortly after that, Long located an abandoned truck in Brownstown that had been stolen from the eastern part of the county.

“We believe the truck was stolen, then driven to Brownstown to commit the crimes and vehicle thefts,” the department posted that night on its Facebook page.

A couple of days later, Kelly recovered the other stolen vehicle in the eastern part of the county.

Then this past Monday, another vehicle was stolen from the Lucas-Ackerman addition during the storm. It was located by the Jennings County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday. That investigation is ongoing, police said.

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To report suspicious activity or crime in Jackson County:

Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, 812-358-2141

Brownstown Police Department, 812-358-2345

Crothersville Police Department, 812-793-0049

Medora Police Department, 812-966-8484

Seymour Police Department, 812-522-1234

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