Lock your doors: As weather warms, thefts from local vehicles on the rise

As the weather warms, property crimes rise, and not excluded from that rule are thefts from vehicles.

Vehicle break-ins accounted for several calls to law enforcement agencies Thursday in Flathead and Lake counties.

In Columbia Falls, five incidents were reported between 6:04 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. on Crescent Drive, Council Bluffs Drive, Frontage Road, Fifth Avenue East North, and Sixth Avenue East North. Two wallets were reported stolen.

In Polson, five incidents were reported between 5:45 and 10:04 a.m. on Main Street, Sixth Street East, Fifth Avenue East, Sixth Avenue East, and Third Street West.

Three vehicle break-ins were reported to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office between 8:20 a.m. and 10:36 p.m., including money and tools stolen from a pair of vehicles on Sussex Drive and a vehicle broken into on Frontage Road near Columbia Falls.

Local law enforcement agencies remind people to avoid making themselves targets for the crimes by not leaving any valuables in their vehicles and to keep them locked.