La Center Police Chief Marc Denney understands that people in his town are trusting and like to think that they live in the type of place where they don’t have to lock their doors.
But after dealing with a rash of overnight car prowls in residential neighborhoods, the chief has a message for La Center residents: “Please lock your car doors.”
“We’ve been trying to get the message out,” Denney says. “I tell them, ‘If you don’t want to have your stuff stolen, lock your car doors.’ But some people still don’t want to do it.”
Many people may worry that locking their car doors will encourage thieves to break out their car windows in search of valuables, leaving victims with an expensive fix. But Denney says La Center’s spate of car prowls – there have been almost 60 in the past two years – have never involved a locked car.
“Most of them were in residential neighborhoods, in people’s driveways or in front of their house, and happened at night,” Denney says. “All of the cars were unlocked. I even had one lady tell me that she’s had this happen three times, and that one time they stole a camera ... but she still won’t lock her car doors!”
La Center Police reported 30 car prowls in 2014, but Denney suspects the real number is even higher.
“A lot of people might see in the morning that someone’s gone through their car, but there’s nothing missing, so they don’t report it,” Denney says.
A report from the nonprofit Center for Problem-Oriented Policing backs Denney’s assumption: “Property crimes tend to be under-reported to authorities … as a result, the problem (thefts from parked cars) may be worse than it appears in statistics reported by police,” the report states, adding that these types of car prowl crimes rarely result in any significant property loss for the victims, but can be a burden on local police departments and may add to people’s fear that crime is increasing in their communities.
Denney says many people in the tight-knit town of La Center will stop into the police station and tell the chief or other officers that they’ve recently seen suspicious people in their neighborhood, people who may be involved with the car prowls.
“But they don’t report it to 9-1-1 when it’s happening,” Denney says. “They come in a couple days later and tell us about it.”
The La Center chief says people in the community can help police catch the car prowl thieves, but only if they report suspicious activity when it’s going on.
A recent example highlights what can happen when the community reports a car prowl in progress: Earlier this month, on Feb. 9, a resident alerted La Center Police to a car prowl in progress in the 600 block of East 5th Street. When La Center Police Officer Gregory McDonald arrived on the scene, he was advised that neighbors had seen the suspect, “a white male wearing a black jacket, black pants and a knit cap,” heading south, on foot.
Officers found the suspect, later identified as Dylan Mayfield, walking a few blocks from the scene of the crime. According to the police report, Mayfield, 20, resisted arrest, pulled away from the officers, shoved McDonald in the chest and ran. A police hunt, involving a K9 unit, ensued for the next 90 minutes. When the police dog lost the suspect’s scent near the water in La Center’s Sternwheeler Park, officers called off the search.
Instead of pursuing Mayfield on foot, police went to the suspect’s house and talked to Mayfield’s stepfather. According to the police report, Mayfield’s stepfather showed police several items, including a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses and a White Tail hunting knife, that Mayfield had left in the house. “(The stepfather) stated that he has been finding items around the house that lead him to believe that Mayfield is doing auto prowls,” the police report states. “He stated that Mayfield doesn’t have a job and couldn’t afford those items.”
The stepfather later alerted police to the fact that Mayfield had returned home and “was upset … that he was in the shower getting cleaned up.” Police arrived and questioned Mayfield about the alleged car prowls. According to the police report, Mayfield admitted to breaking into two different cars, “a white or silver Subaru and a black truck.” Mayfield told police that he had gone through the unlocked driver’s side door of both vehicles and “stolen some change … $5 to $10 worth.”
Police arrested Mayfield, and charged him with third-degree assault – a felony – for pushing a police officer while trying to flee the scene of a crime. Police also charged Mayfield with several misdemeanors, including two counts of auto prowl, three counts of attempted auto prowl, one count of obstructing a public servant, and two counts of third-degree theft. The police report adds that “two other victims of auto prowls contacted the La Center Police Department later to report that their vehicles had been entered, but nothing appeared to be missing.” Police said they could not link those particular car prowls to Mayfield.
Chief Denney says he is counting on community members to help prevent car prowls by locking their car doors, but adds that efforts like the one leading to Mayfield’s arrest, will also help police catch would-be car prowl thieves.
“I would advise people to pay attention and, if they see someone suspicious, someone who might be (breaking into cars), then they should call 9-1-1 and report it,” Denney says. “Don’t wait.”
