VILLA HILLS, Ky. — Police in Northern Kentucky say a group of people have been stealing unlocked cars, and items left in them.

Now officers are asking for help identifying the thieves.

Wednesday night was the latest example of police in Villa Hills pursuing unlocked cars that had been stolen.

Police Chief Colonel Bryan Allen said it’s been happening a lot.

"Every city in northern Kentucky and southern Ohio has had this issue. There’s a group of people going out,” he said. “They’ll go through neighborhoods, see what’s open, what’s not open, rummage through the cars really quick. Anything they find as far as credit cards, they’ll use, then usually within a day or so, we’ll find the stolen vehicles."

Allen said if they catch up to a thief, it usually ends up in a high-speed pursuit. The group has hit almost a hundred cars in the area.

Officers are going through pictures and security footage people have provided to try to identify the thieves.

Villa Hills police are working with other agencies to tie everything together. In the meantime, Allen said these thefts could be avoided.

“All vehicles were unlocked. There’s no breaking or entering of the cars. The group usually hits sometime in the late evening hours, overnight. We’re giving them the opportunities," he said. "If everybody would follow the safety practices that everybody has said, the police department says, a lot of this wouldn’t be happening right now."

“Don’t leave your keys, key fobs in a vehicle. If you had a key fob in your vehicle and locked the vehicle, I go up and touch the vehicle, and start the car and drive away with it.”

In addition to not leaving cars unlocked, or keys in cars, Allen said people also shouldn’t leave valuables, especially guns or wallets.

Anyone who sees suspicious activities should call Kenton County dispatch at 859-356-3191, or 9-1-1.