LAKEPORT — A rash of auto vandalisms hit Lakeport Wednesday evening.
Sixteen cars were vandalized in residential areas throughout the northern part of the city limits on 16th street, Orchid Street and Page Drive, reported Lakeport Police Chief Kevin Burke.
Sgt. Brad Rasmussen said officers were dispatched at approximately 4:40 a.m. to an unlocked vehicle on 19th Street where a car stereo was stolen. From there, the officers went to Page Drive where 11 unlocked vehicles were ransacked.
Some cars were ransacked with nothing taken, Rasmussen said, while in others miscellaneous property such as cell phones, electronic equipment and personal items — were taken.
“People started calling us this morning when they went to their cars to go to work and discovered they had been vandalized,” said Burke.
One of the victims of the vehicle ransacking was Adrian Renaud, who lives on Orchid Street.
“I woke up this morning and the door to my truck was left wide open,” Renaud said. “They took my new license plate from the glove compartment and threw it over to that stop sign,” he said, motioning to a stop sign off of 16th Street, approximately 100 yards away.
“They also left a basket of loose change,” he said, shrugging and shaking his head.
Rasmussen reported that a 1999 GMC Sierra pickup truck was reported stolen at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday; it was recovered an hour later on North Forbes Street.
“We”re pretty sure all the thefts and the stolen vehicle are related,” Rasmussen said. “We believe the suspects used this vehicle to commit the other thefts.”
He added, “We have confirmed that property stolen from the other vehicles was found inside this truck. The truck was abandoned at 10th and North Forbes and was ransacked. There was also property in the truck which was taken that has not yet been recovered.”
Rasmussen said a witness reported seeing two teenage male subjects walking around 16th and Orchid.
If anyone has any information or witnessed anything unusual in the area — such as someone walking on foot in the area after dark — they are asked to call Detective Norm Taylor, 263-5491.
Contact Cynthia Davis at cdavis@record-bee.com.
