As holidays approach, police say guns are being stolen from cars

In the last 30 days, the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office has responded to a several calls for service regarding vehicles being broken into.

During the Christmas season, there is usually a slight increase in the number of reported thefts. However, the growing concern for the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office is the frequency in which these thefts are occurring and the number of firearms being stolen.

In the last 30 days deputies have responded to 26 vehicle break-ins in various locations in the county. Of those reports five of those vehicles were reported as being unlocked. Of those vehicles that were broken into seven firearms were reported stolen that is approximately 27 percent of those thefts from vehicles.

These thefts appear to be occurring between the hours midnight to approximately 6 a.m. The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office wants the community to be aware of these issues. Certainly we do not want to see someone have their belongings taken from them unlawfully.

“We are aware how hard the people in our community work to have the property that they have earned," Capt. Mike Clark said in a press release. "More importantly we certainly do not want to see a firearm of any type to fall in the hands of the wrong person.

“The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office would encourage the citizens to lock their vehicles and remove any and all valuables, such as money, jewelry, firearms, electronics and presents from their vehicles at the end of the day and secure them in their residence.”

Nelson County residents are encouraged to be observant and report any suspicious activity to Nelson County Dispatch (502)-348-3211 non-emergency line or 911 for emergencies.

This story was originally published December 17, 2017 at 9:50 AM with the headline "As holidays approach, police say guns are being stolen from cars."