Operations targeting car burglaries making a dent outside Jazz games


6 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — On a night where the Utah Jazz were locked in a crucial Game 6 against the Los Angeles Clippers, the evening was far from ‘fun and games’ for Salt Lake City police.

Roughly a dozen officers and numerous student ‘explorers’ were in the middle of an operation Friday night that targeted would-be car burglars and car burglaries in the blocks that surround Vivint Smart Home Arena.

“This area has that happen occasionally when there’s an event,” said Det. Josh Ashdown, a member of the department’s Community Intelligence Unit.

Sgt. Gil Arenaz said car burglaries were a far worse problem last year, prior to police undertaking these operations on the nights of big events and Jazz games.

“Sometimes, we’d get 10 in a row — a criminal would just go from one car to the next, so that’s kind of why we started this.”

Since that time, Arenaz said police have observed a marked difference.

“The two operations that we did last week – we only had one car prowl, and it was after we left,” Arenaz said.

As part of the operation, the department’s teen ‘explorers’ handed out flyers offering Jazz fans tips on how to protect their valuables while they were at the game.

Photo: Tanner Siegworth, KSL TV
Photo: Tanner Siegworth, KSL TV

Arenaz said car burglars and event-goers are both getting the message that police are watching.

Still, Ashdown, while patrolling an area of 600 West Friday night, said he still found several cars whose drivers were not heeding the warnings.

“Since we’ve parked here, I’ve seen several backpacks, several electronics and this one’s full of stuff,” Ashdown said, gesturing to one car.

Police have recommended drivers lock valuables in trunks, or take the items with them.

Ashdown hoped Jazz fans and others would ‘take note’ in the future.

“(Burglars) will break a window or get into a car just on the chance there’s something valuable in the bag,” Ashdown said. “If they don’t see anything, they’re going to move on.”

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahUtah JazzSports
Andrew Adams

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast