Warming Vehicles Are Hot Targets For Thieves, Police Say

Area police are seeing a rash of car thefts, and, they say, car owners are making it easy by leaving vehicles running and unattended. 

Taylor Embery, of Norman, learned the hard way, that’s not a wise thing to do.

“I went outside at about 6:30 this morning to start my car, came back inside to get dressed,” Embery recalls. “My husband ran outside to take the trash out and start his car and my vehicle wasn’t there.”

Someone had swiped Embery's Cadillac, and it only took a few minutes of leaving it running and unattended. 

“Yup, I do it daily,” she said. “Every day I do it, and it happened just that fast.”

Police said with the cold weather comes an increase in vehicle thefts. 

“Every time about this time of year, when it’s turning cold we see a spike in auto thefts. And it’s simply people warming up their cars,” Oklahoma City police Master Sgt. Gary Knight said. “Auto theft is a crime of opportunity and when you leave your car running you are providing that opportunity to a car thief.”

The solution is simple. Don't leave your car running unattended to warm it up. 

That's something Embery said she will never do again. 

“No.  Never," she said. “I will be getting a remote start on my next vehicle and that key fob will be with me at all times and my vehicle will always be locked.”