Easy Pickens

Police are investigating a rash of latenight car break-ins similar to those that have plagued Norfolk off and on for several years.

As in the past, a thief or thieves is taking advantage of the widespread practice in town of leaving vehicles unlocked in the driveway.

“Lock your cars,” Norfolk Police Lieutenant Jon Carroll said in an interview this week.

In all, police have gotten reports of about 15 vehicle break-ins during the past couple of weeks.

On July 1, police got reports of 10 incidents involving 11 vehicles, all unlocked.

On Erin Lane, a global positioning system was taken.

On Bretts Farm Road, Officer David Eberle was on patrol when he was flagged down by a pedestrian who had found a credit card that corresponded to a person with an address on Bretts Farm Road. The discovery of the credit card, which was found on the Lawrence Street bridge over Bush Pond, led to the discovery that a car break-in had taken place at the credit card holder’s home.

At another home on Bretts Farm Road, a family lost items from two vehicles, including a global positioning system from one and a radar detector from the other.

A vehicle at a home on Cranberry Meadow Road lost an empty gym bag, which was later found on the front lawn.

Three vehicles from Berkshire Street were rummaged through, with one losing cigarettes; nothing was taken from the other two. A vehicle on Lawrence Street was also rummaged through but nothing was missing.

But another vehicle on Berkshire Street lost a laptop bag and a BlackBerry cell phone. The resident on July 5 reported finding the laptop bag in a brush-covered area about 100 feet from his driveway.

From an unlocked car that was in the garage with the garage door open, about $3 in change was reported missing.

A woman on Bretts Farm Road who thought her wallet was merely missing learned on July 3 that actually it had been stolen out of her car after a man walking his dog found the wallet and related documents.

On July 3 a resident on Worcester Road reported that a wallet was taken the night of June 30 from a vehicle, but the resident lost no cash and cancelled the credit cards with no purchases reported on them.

On July 5, a resident on Erin Lane reported a motor vehicle break-in believed to have taken place on July 3. A global positioning system was taken.

On July 6, a resident on Cranberry Meadow Road reported a car break-in. The resident lost a global positioning system.

On July 7, a 50-year-old Millis man parked near Kingsbury Pond so he could go swimming there. When he returned he found that his pickup truck had been entered a cell phone and garage door opened had been stolen.