Police were warning people to keep valuables out of sight after a string of vehicle burglaries in Bradenton Beach and Longboat Key.
At about sunset Nov. 17, three burglaries occurred between 1700 and 2100 Gulf Drive South in a Coquina Beach parking lot and also on Longboat Key, where two SUVs in Bayfront Park and one Mercedes-Benz at a beach access were hit.
A day later and three days before, three similar burglaries were reported to Bradenton Beach police.
Windows were smashed or doors pried open and, in some instances, police found no forced entry.
Purses, wallets, credit cards, cash, glasses, a passport, a firearms permit and an iPhone were among the stolen items.
Longboat Key Police Chief Pete Cumming said his officers were working the cases and “making some headway.”
According to the LBKPD reports, police lifted fingerprints and confiscated a blue lighter found amid the broken glass in Bayfront Park.
In Bradenton Beach, Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz warned people to stow belongings when parking vehicles because “during this time of year you’re going to see more.”
The thieves are looking to use the credit cards to purchase electronics or other high-ticket items before victims have time to advise their banks of the stolen cards, he said.
Coquina Beach parking lot vehicle burglaries were reported as follows:
- Between 2-4 p.m. Nov. 14, in the 1800 block of Gulf Drive South, a woman from Venice returned from the beach and found her vehicle, which she’d locked, unlocked. Noticing nothing out of place, she began driving home. The woman next received a text from her bank about her credit card, which she discovered missing from the purse she’d left on the vehicle floor when she went to the beach. Cash next to her credit cards was not taken.
- Another burglary was reported at 5:19 p.m. Nov. 17 in the 2100 block of Gulf Drive South. Two women reported coming to the beach for a wedding and returning to their vehicle to find a window broken and a purse, wallet, credit cards, prescription medicine and $75 gone.
- At 5:45 p.m. Nov. 17, BBPD responded to the 1700 block of Gulf Drive South for the report of a Michigan woman who returned from the beach and found her vehicle window smashed and her purse, wallet, credit cards and $130 stolen.
- At 5:45 p.m. Nov. 17, a Parrish couple and their daughter reported someone had broken a window and stolen items from their vehicle left in the 1800 block of Gulf Drive South. A Michael Kors purse, a coin purse, clothes and military identification cards were among the items missing.
- Another burglary was reported at about 6 p.m. Nov. 18. Two credit cards were stolen from the center console of a van that was possibly left unlocked. The Massachusetts couple reported more than $2,500 in unauthorized credit card transactions.
- At 7 p.m. Nov. 19, a Bradenton couple reported $200 in cash and numerous credit cards stolen after a credit card company notified the woman by text message that a $1,926 transaction had posted.
On Longboat Key, police responded minutes apart to calls for three vehicle burglaries Nov. 17 — 5:47 p.m., 5:49 p.m. and 5:53 p.m.
The first call dispatched officers to the Broadway Beach access in the 7000 block of Seabreeze Avenue.
After watching the sunset, two couples returned to their Mercedes and found a window shattered. Stolen from the vehicle was a woman’s purse, which had been placed under the seat, containing an iPhone 7, prescription glasses, credit and debit cards and two blank checks.
For the next two calls, LBKPD responded to Bayfront Park, where an unknown person smashed windows in two SUVs.
From a 2016 GMC SUV, a Sarasota woman reported stolen a Nine West purse, wallet, $500, a $100 Busch Gardens pass and credit, identification and insurance cards.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Bradenton Beach police at 941-778-4766 or to report anonymous tips, call CrimeStoppers at 1-866-634-TIPS (8477).