Krum police spent Friday dealing with dozens of reports of thefts from vehicles throughout three major neighborhoods in town.
Police Chief Terry Hargis said his officers had received at least 20 reports from residents in the Eaglechase, Saddlebrook and Dove Meadows neighborhoods as of 2 p.m.
In most of the cases, Hargis said the vehicles were left unlocked or warming up in front of homes, and when residents returned they found several items inside missing. Among the missing things were sunglasses and laptop computers, and Hargis said in at least one case a handgun.
Neighbors in Eaglechase said their community Facebook pages were filled with reports all day of more residents discovering things taken from their cars. One neighbor estimated 50 or more people may have been hit, though at last check police had only taken the 20 reports.
Among them was Krum Mayor Ron Harris, whose wife started her vehicle to warm up before driving to work on the cold Friday morning, only to find later she had been a victim of the crime.
"Was warming her car up, just like everyone else was, and came out and she got to work and said, 'My sunglasses are missing, and I had a few other things in the car that are missing," said Harris.
Police believe the thefts were all likely related, and hope someone in the community of less than 5,000 people saw something that could lead to a suspect.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Officers are asking anyone who may have spotted something strange or caught a glimpse of strange activity on their home security systems to report it to the Krum Police Department right away.
Though Krum only has seven officers in its department, Hargis said they'd be keeping a close eye on things and were urging surrounding departments to do the same.
The chief and mayor both urge residents to take this situation as a warning that crimes like these do happen, even in their small town. They ask residents lock their vehicles, hide valuables out of plain sight, or take items inside to avoid being an easy target.
