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WEST VALLEY CITY — Residents in bordering West Jordan and West Valley neighborhoods are concerned about a string of garage thefts.
In the subdivision of Diamond Summit, residents are mobilizing. They're making flyers and spreading the word through social media to raise awareness about similar crimes. So far, there have been five different incidents within just a couple miles of each other.
A home surveillance camera caught one of the brazen acts. One person stayed behind the wheel while another jumped out and ran into an open garage. Within seconds, he emerged carrying two air compressors.
"These are often crimes of opportunity," said Officer Adams with the West Jordan Police Department. "Criminals like that driving around the neighborhood."
A couple of days later, and a of couple miles away, another theft occurred.
"They were all together and wired all together," Paula Conklin said. "They cut right through the padlock."
Conklin woke Monday morning to find two generators valued at more than $1,400 gone.
The latest theft occurred on Thursday, and it was caught by surveillance video. Renee Layton is the neighborhood watch chair and lives just a couple of streets down from the home where the most recent theft took place. She posted the surveillance video from the first theft online to warn neighbors.
"I got a message saying we saw that same truck (from the surveillance video) on our street," Layton said. "Then I was sent another message saying a neighbor had their generator stolen."
Authorities are working together to find the people responsible and to see if the thefts are linked.
To make matters more complicate, these neighborhoods lie within three different police jurisdictions.
In several of these cases, an older two-tone truck missing a tailgate was seen.
"It's always a possibility," Adams said. "They are very often connected."
In the meantime, residents are being extra careful.
"If anything, it just heightens our awareness of someone driving slower or being a little suspicious," Layton said.
Police say it's a good reminder to never leave garage doors open or keep valuables visible from the street.
