Police recovered four stolen cars and arrested three suspects following a recent spate of car thefts.
Officers were tasked to the Worksop/South Yorkshire border to tackle a crime trend of keyless thefts of Ford Fiesta STs and Titaniums.
While this is a country-wide issue, a number of these thefts have been reported in Bassetlaw.
After forcing locks to gain entry, it is believed a device may have been used by criminals which allows them to start up the cars.
Three suspects were arrested after Nottinghamshire officers followed a Ford Fiesta ST which failed to stop and was being driven at speed as it headed into the Gildingwells area of South Yorkshire.
A 22-year-old man, a 16-year-old boy, and a 17-year-old girl were arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and possession of drugs with intent to supply after the car came to a stop on the night of 16 August.
Police checks revealed the car had been stolen from an address in Doncaster.
inspector Hayley Crawford, District Commander for Bassetlaw, said: “We received seven reports of these types of thefts last week and we’ve had 36 reports in the last month alone.
“Our inquiries are ongoing into these thefts, and I’m pleased that we have recently managed to recover four stolen Ford Fiestas in the Bassetlaw district thanks to the work of my neighbourhood policing team and Operation Reacher team, as well as our Operational Support team.
“However, there are still offenders out there targeting these vehicles, so I am urging owners to take extra precautions to prevent them falling victim.
“One of the best ways to prevent criminals from targeting your vehicle is by installing wheel locks or steering wheel locks. If criminals see a physical device in your car, it’s likely to put them off and they will go somewhere else as they are looking for an easy opportunity.
“Other ways to reduce the risk of your vehicle being stolen include parking it in a locked garage and purchasing a signal blocking Faraday pouch which blocks the radio waves from your keys.
“Please take the time to review your vehicle security and I would also ask anyone with any information about car thefts in their area – or who believes they may have been targeted but not reported this to the police – to get in contact with us.
“Information from the public plays a really important role in helping us to locate those responsible as well as the vehicles which have been stolen.”
Anyone who has information or footage, such as CCTV of thefts, which may assist police investigations is asked to report it on 101. If the crime is in action, please report it to police on 999.
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