Undersheriff Jim Yon wants to remind all persons venturing outdoors this summer to lock up your belongings. Vehicles are unattended when people hike, camp, boat, swim, and hunt during the good weather. The Linn County Sheriff’s Office experiences a drastic increase of car break-ins. Last year, we investigated 85 car break-ins from May to Labor Day. This is more than double what we investigated in the prior four months. We have already seen a small rise in cars broken into while people are out enjoying the nice weather these last few weeks.

Anything you can do to make it harder for criminals to steal your valuables will help. Please keep your vehicles locked when unattended, do not leave wallets, cell phones, purses or any valuables in your vehicles. If anything has to be left in your vehicle, do not leave it within view of others.

Enjoy this summer and be safe.