Leaving idling cars unattended invites trouble, police say

An old bad habit among Wichita drivers resurfaced this week, police say.

Patrol West officers conducted their annual check for vehicles left unattended while warming up on Wednesday morning and put warning fliers on more than 20 of them.

“Don’t become a victim of auto theft by leaving your car warming unattended!” a post on the bureau’s Facebook page proclaimed.

Wichita drivers have a history of starting their cars and then going back inside to finish getting ready for work or whatever other travel they may be doing on that cold day. Sometimes, they get away with it.

Other times, they’re not so lucky. In fact, there seems to be a surge in thefts of idling vehicles left unattended on an annual basis around Wichita — commonly during the first cold snap of the season or a particularly lengthy stretch of cold weather.

While this holiday weekend will be a bit warmer than average for this time of year, it’s only a matter of time before the next cold snap arrives, weather officials say.

Simply locking the idling vehicles no longer seems to be much of a deterrent, police have said. Thieves have no qualms about breaking windows to grab something they want or to steal the car.

Police have recommended that motorists protect their vehicles with hidden kill switches, alarm systems or steering wheel locking devices.

This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Leaving idling cars unattended invites trouble, police say."