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Kansas Community On Alert After Spike in Vehicle Break-Ins

by Tracy Crockett (MARQUETTE, Kan.)

Lower crime rates are a draw for many small towns, but a spike in vehicle break-ins has one Kansas community on alert.   Now a McPherson County town's Police Chief says unlocked cars are the new target.

Chris Alstatt says, "It's a good town."  His wife Lori adds, "Small town you know everybody and everybody knows you and you feel pretty safe."  Chris says, "Real quiet town, nothing really happens much."

That is until recently.   Chris says, "There was something laying on the floor here out of my glove box and I just picked it up and went to put it away and I looked and the whole center of my dash was missing."

Lori and Chris are just one of a dozen victims here in Marquette.  Lori says, "Just kind of changes your whole perspective on small town living."  And Marquette's not the only community being targeted.  The McPherson County Sheriff says the city of McPherson has seen about a dozen similar reports since the first of June, all involving unlocked vehicles.

Serving as a reminder to everyone to be proactive, lock your vehicle, and report suspicious activity.  Something the alstatts say they are now doing.  Chris says, "Everything's been locked and I put a security light up to help keep things lit up back here."  Lori says, "Hopefully we can get it figured out and go back to small town living the safe way we always have."

The Marquette Police Chief says he met with the county attorney Thursday, and hopes to file charges in several of the cases by Friday.