"Car-hopping" for firearms part of new trend [View all]

[SecularMotion]

Firearms being stolen from unlocked cars is a growing trend in St. Johns County, law enforcement officials say.

The most surprising part of the trend, perhaps, is from where the weapons have gone missing.

“For the past seven years, we’ve been telling the community to lock their car doors or at least put their valuables out of sight,” said Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan, a spokesman for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. “But recently, we’ve seen some of the cars people break into have firearms in them.”

The emerging trend is for thieves to target a particular neighborhood, checking every unlocked car on a street for valuables.

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2015-07-14/car-hopping-firearms-part-new-trend