The Southold Police Department reported two cars stolen overnight in the North Fork area last week, one in Mattituck and the other in Laurel.
A Center Street resident in Mattituck told police a Honda Civic was stolen from their driveway on Dec. 14. The suspect located the keys to the car in a Ford F150 pickup truck parked next to it, took the keys and an unknown amount of change, got into the Honda Civic and took off, confirmed Southold Town Police Chief Steven Grattan.
Chief Grattan said this vehicle has not yet been recovered and was caught on video crossing the George Washington Bridge at around 5:40 a.m. that day.
The other vehicle, also stolen Dec. 14, was a Chevrolet Traverse parked at a home on Peconic Bay Boulevard in Laurel. The vehicle was found the next day, in good condition, a couple of miles from the vehicle owners’ home. Chief. Grattan said the owners did not pursue further action.
In both instances, the vehicles involved were unlocked. The police chief strongly urges North Fork residents to lock their car doors and keep their valuables on themselves or inside their homes.
“We live in a very safe area and you can probably leave your keys in your car and not have to worry about it, but there are opportunists who come along and they will check car doors, and they will find the one that’s open with a key in it, and that’s the one they’re going to take,” the chief said. “So, just lock the car doors.”
There have been no other police reports of stolen vehicles since those two incidents.