DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — There’s a bit of a crime wave happening in Davis County, including a concerning increase in vehicle break-ins, burglaries and stolen firearms.
In North Salt Lake, police are also seeing an increase in storage unit break-ins — including one on Sunday, in the middle of the day, where the suspects were very casual and very deliberate in what they were doing.
North Salt Lake detectives say security video clearly shows a man and a woman going in and out of a storage unit at the Eaglewood Apartments.
“We’ve had some very brazen thefts or burglaries of storage units or storage locations where packages are shipped," said Deputy Police Chief Mitch Gwilliam.
It’s part of a larger trend of property crimes that are on the rise all across Davis County.
“It’s been an extremely busy past four months," said Stephanie Dinsmore, the public information officer for the Davis County Sheriff’s Office. She’s referring to 30 stolen firearms, nearly 60 stolen vehicles and an estimated 300+ vehicle break-ins.
“We have seen a huge uptick in these type of crimes, and it’s very concerning to us the amount of stolen firearms that we are actively trying to recover right now," Dinsmore said.
She says something as simple as people locking their vehicle doors would have prevented most of these crimes.
“All of these vehicles that have had firearms in them have been unlocked," she said.
Detectives have home videos showing how effective locking your car door can be. They show burglary suspects, in the middle of the night, quickly moving on from a vehicle with locked doors.
“It is really important because I’ve had experiences where I’ve had things taken," said Kolby Ferrell.
Kolby and his wife, Gracie, are a newly married couple living in North South Lake. Kolby says they work hard for what they have and take every precaution possible to hang onto their possessions.
“Things we do like every night: make sure the door is locked, every time I go up to my apartment, I make sure my car is locked, sometimes I go back and double check it," he said.
Gracie agrees.
“Just making sure everything is locked up, not just for the safety of your belongings, but for the safety of yourself," she said.
In the meantime, Gwilliam wants everyone to keep an eye out for the suspected storage unit burglars.
“We would really like any information that anybody might have on who these two individuals are so we could speak with them," he said.
If you recognize the suspects in the storage unit break-in or the other crimes in Davis County, you are asked to call North Salt Lake Police at 801-298-6000 or the Davis County Sheriff’s Office at 801-451-4403.
