Items recovered, four charged for rash of car break-ins | Crime

SALISBURY - It's one of the most predictable and preventable signs of the season...thieves opening unlocked car doors and carrying off whatever they find inside.

Despite all the attention, it keeps happening, but in Rowan County, deputies say they now have one case where crooks have been caught, and they include three brothers working together in crime.

Most of the time things stolen from unlocked cars are never seen again, but this is different.  A black and gray book bag contained the rich bounty of the work of four alleged thieves.

"Anything of value in the car and the car left unlocked, they were making off with it," said Captain John Sifford of the Rowan Sheriff's Office.

Everything recovered was found inside cars, and in most cases, the doors were unlocked.

There were flashlights, GPS, several bottles of prescription drugs, a dvd player, knives, a video camera, and so on and so on.

Investigators say three brothers and a friend were the thieves.  They've charged Franklin Lee Williams, along with James Coe, Jeffrey Coe, and Justin Coe.

From law enforcement, the advice is what you'd expect, any place that you park your car is a potential crime scene.

"If you're at home, at church, the convenience store, there are always people that are just lurking nearby, if you leave something of value there it's probably going to be gone if you don't lock your car," Sifford added.

And they say this time of the year makes it even more tempting for thieves. The four involved in this latest spree are charged with breaking into vehicles and larceny of a firearm.