I have said it before but it must be said again, “LOCK YOUR CAR!” This heroin epidemic has us seeing resurgence in property theft offenses. Yes heroin is cheap, but when a drug addiction causes a normal person’s body weight to drop fifty to eighty pounds in a year, one cap does not produce the high needed for the addict.

Addicts have come into the jail with a 20 cap a day habit. Some indicate double that or more. When the dealers are cutting the heroin with flakka the habit becomes twofold and this is not a cheap addiction to be on after a lengthy period of use.

Once the habit becomes so bad that the addict has lost most all their body fat and is losing body muscle, the person’s job is to find the money for the next high. When the addict can find a ride to Dayton where they can get more bang for their buck, they are often caught by the police because other motorists call in to report people shooting up in the car while driving back home.

So this week alone I have seen police reports in Troy, Piqua, Tipp City, Bethel/Clark of people looking out their windows in the middle of the night and seeing a person dressed in black going through all the unlocked cars in a neighborhood. When they find an unlocked car they will take anything to pawn.

Cell phones, screwdrivers, GPS systems, flashlights, guns under seats are all great finds and easy to pawn or sell to a dealer. Some wear a back pack and throw untraceable articles in it. Items with serial numbers will be left in a pile by an easily identifiable landmark for retrieval later.

A friend of my half unit called and said her husband found a set of two way radios on the ground behind a tree in their yard. They thought it would be nice to use. The half unit knew better and suggested her friend call the local Sheriff and it turned out the radios were stolen from an unlocked pair of cars four doors down the street. The couple used them to communicate with each other while delivering newspapers.

These thieves often work in tandem. One will drive around while the other ransacks cars, leaving the loot by a tree and coming back later when finished to retrieve. That way if a police or deputy stops the thief or accomplice, they have no stolen merchandise in their possession. A backpack full of these stolen goods may get them a couple days supply of heroin. If they find a work truck unlocked, they have hit a gold mine. Unmarked tools can buy a lot of heroin.

To fight this heroin epidemic you can help just by locking your vehicles, barns and sheds. Mark the tools so you can identify them later. If you are victim to a thief, go to the nearest pawn shop and look for your property. You may have to buy your property back, but the pawn broker is required to have the identification on file of who pawned it.

Don’t make it any easier on the addict to get their next fix. Lock the doors; you may prevent an overdose death.

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