Nine thefts from vehicles were reported over the past week in a three-to-four block radius around Lochside Drive between Cedar Hill Cross Road and Nicholson Street, on the north side of McKenzie Avenue.
In most of the incidents, the vehicles were left unlocked, which once again prompted Saanich Police to remind residents to lock parked cars.
Stolen items included sunglasses, iPods, car chargers and other valuable and mobile accessories. One emerging trend that alarms police is the theft of insurance and registration papers, said Sgt Steve Eassie.
“Registration papers can contain personal (banking) information,” Eassie said.
“Most insurance (agencies) will remind you to remove those papers from the car, and we want to remind people to do that as well.”
An additional four incidents of missing validation tags from license plates were reported over the past seven days. While unrelated, they are cause for concern, Eassie said.
Those thefts took place in Gordon Head and Swan Lake neighbourhoods.
“In one of the circumstances, the plate was actually swapped, which isn’t something we often see. Usually a license plate is taken from a vehicle with nothing left in its place, so just a warning, to ensure the validation tag is on your license plate.”
reporter@saanichnews.com