POLICE ISSUE WARNING AFTER SPATE OF THEFTS OF TOOLS FROM VANS

Once again Police Scotland is warning van owners in the region to take care after another 11 work vans were broken into overnight Wednesday 6/Thursday 7 June 2918. Again tools were the target by the thieves and the value of those stolen runs into many thousands of pounds.

Detective Constable Grant Drennan said “Once again the area appears to have been hit by thieves who have targeted vans in Moffat – three, Beattock – four and in the Sanquhar area – four. The vans were all found to have been broken into on Thursday morning. Electrical tools, drills, saws, grinders and other tools have been stolen. We have recovered a number of the boxes and containers that the tools were contained in near some of the scenes of these crimes. At this stage were are treating this latest spate of thefts as linked, and there is a strong possibility that they are linked to the last spate. We are asking for the help of the community to solve these crimes. We want to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity in any of the area of these crimes over Wednesday/Thursday this week. We want to hear about any suspicious movements of people or vehicles, and any information should be passed to us through the 101 number, using the reference number PDG 0123200618. With the numbers of this type of crime recently reported now reaching nearly 40, we are confident someone somewhere must have seen something which might just help us. Even the most apparently insignificant piece of information might be the missing piece in our link to help solve these crimes. Please call us if you think you might have seen something we might be interested in.

“Again we are asking businesses who operate vans throughout the region to be on their guard and consider carefully where they park their vehicles overnight, and what tools and other equipment they leave in them. Anyone seeking crime prevention advice can call us for a free survey on 101, and ask to speak with their local Crime Reduction Officer.”