Stoughton Police Issue Advisory About Car Break-ins At Local Gyms

Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany said his department has received complaints about a "rash" of car break-ins at local area gyms over the last several weeks.  As a result, the  has issued an advisory on the town website, warning gym-goers to secure all valuables during their workout.

From Nov. 29 to Dec. 1—a span of three days—there were four reported car break-ins at local gyms, not to mention a wallet stolen from a locker at Planet Fitness, according to a recent police log.  On Nov. 30, there were two reported car break-ins at the YMCA within two hours of one another.  These incidents all occurred during the evening hours.   

"Success breeds success," Shastany said of the reported thefts.  "We've seen it in the region and we felt that since we haven't caught the folks that are doing this, that one part of our strategy...is to educate the people about how to prevent victimization."

Shastany said car thieves are looking for valuable items like GPS devices, cellphones, wallets and  laptops.  He said items like cellphone chargers or suction cup window mounts (that hold electronics like a GPS or an iPod) are "giveaways" that there is something valuable in the car. 

"Preventing those thefts by hiding the property or not even even bringing it with you is important," Shastany said. 

Snyder's Stoughton website has reported that break-ins have occurred at the , Elite Fitness (both on Central Street),  (Washington Street), Terban Fitness (Evans Drive) and  (Tosca Drive).  Shastany said there was no known suspect or suspects at this time. 

Shastany advised that when people arrive at their gym to be on the lookout for suspicious activity, like if someone keeps moving their car from one parked position to another.

"We're not going to wait until there's a problem here," Shastany said.  "When we recognize a trend, what we want to do is try to stop it from becoming a real issue."