The Victim: Heather Cronister
The Crime: Burglary of a motor vehicle
Date: Saturday, July 21
Time: Between 6:30 p.m. July 21 and 3:30 p.m. July 22
Location: 7100 block of Greentree
At first, they didn’t notice anything.
Heather Cronister was in a hurry that afternoon. She hit her keyless entry, and she and her kids piled into the front seats and second row of her SUV. They jetted off to a friend’s house for a child’s birthday party. It should have been a fun afternoon.
As they parked the car at their destination, however, a bigger picture emerged as to what had happened in the driveway of their Lakewood-area home the night before. All the items in the consoles had been emptied onto the seats, and the third row seat had been removed. There were also scratches on the driver’s side door, and the key cylinder had been removed, which Cronister hadn’t noticed because she used her key fob. The thief also stole a pair of Chanel sunglasses, and the whole ordeal will cost about $3,000.
Despite this, things could have been worse.
“I think they probably wanted to steal the wheels, too. I think they were probably looking in the consoles for the key to the wheel locks,” she says.
Cronister says there have been many transient people in her neighbor hanging fliers since recent hailstorms and wonders whether one of them saw an opportunity to steal from an SUV.
Dallas Police Sgt. Keitric Jones of the Northeast Patrol Division says Cronister was lucky to have had wheel locks on her car. This has become a prevalent crime by thieves on sports utility vehicles.
“Wheel locks are helpful because they are a deterrent,” he says. “Wheel locks take time for thieves, and most people who are looking to steal things want to get in and out as quickly as possible.”
| crime numbers |
$46
Amount stolen from Dodie’s Restaurant when a customer ordered two catfish dinners and then left without paying
6600
Block of Ascot where a suspect entered a duplex Aug. 6 using the doggie door and stole $60 off the kitchen counter before leaving through the back door
08.01
Date when someone stole a Dodge truck and the flat bed trailer attached to it in the 7100 block of San Mateo; the keys were left in the ignition
Source: Dallas Police Department
