Deputy honored for recovering stolen vehicles; warning about car burglaries

Deputy Sheriff Terence York of the Fallbrook substation was one of 10 deputies from the San Diego Sheriff’s Department to be honored for their work in recovering stolen cars across San Diego County. The 10 deputies collectively arrested 78 people and recovered 196 stolen cars worth more than $1.5 million in 2015.

"Deputy York is a new deputy with our department who has a lot of energy and he’s actively out there looking for stolen cars," said Lt. David Gilmore, commander of the Fallbrook Sheriff's substation. "He had a very successful year last year, hence his reward and recognition by the Auto Theft Advisory Committee. We were fortunate to get him up here. He’s a veteran of the military and just an outstanding individual. We’re proud to have him."

Deputy York and fellow law enforcement officers from throughout San Diego County were lauded at the 26th annual Auto Theft Advisory Committee Awards Ceremony held March 16 at the Prado Restaurant at Balboa Park in San Diego.

Combined, 32 officers from almost every law enforcement agency in San Diego County teamed up to recover 568 vehicles (valued at approximately $4,243,324) and arrest 138 suspects. Each officer was awarded a plaque from the Auto Theft Advisory Committee.

Reminder issued: 'Lock It or Lose It'

Some slogans seem to stick around forever and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department would like car owners to remember this classic: 'Lock It or Lose It.'

Spring and summer are approaching and that means people will be heading out to take part in fun activities such as going to the beach, picnicking in the park, hiking their favorite trails, and visiting the local diamond to play baseball or softball.

People often drive with the windows down on nice, warm days and then make the mistake of forgetting to put the windows back up. The ramifications of such a blunder – the inside of the car is picked clean. Forget to lock your car? Same result.

All cars are potential targets, but there are things you can do to prevent personal items from being stolen from your vehicle. The Sheriff’s Department offers following tips:

• Lock your doors and windows
• Never leave your car running and unattended
• Keep it tidy, meaning, don’t leave any bait for thieves by keeping your electronics, accessories, shopping bags and other belongings out of sight
• Stash before – not after – you park as thieves linger in busy parking lots looking for valuables being moved out of sight
• Park in busy, well-lit, and well-traveled areas
• Leave no trace – don’t leave any sign there might be valuables in your car, such as docking stations, cell phone chargers, connector cables, spare change or clothing (a thief might think there is something valuable in the pockets).
• Use your car alarm

Gilmore said car burglaries in Fallbrook have decreased recently as a result of people taking the appropriate steps to protect their belongings.

"We’ve seen a downward trend in vehicle burglaries in Fallbrook and we believe that’s a direct nexus to people locking their cars and keeping their valuables out of sight," said Gilmore. "We believe the public education campaign as well as folks taking care of their property and protecting themselves is really preventing a lot of these things from happening."