LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Oldham County Police are working to catch whoever is responsible for breaking into more than 50 vehicles. In some cases, thieves are also stealing vehicles.

Oldham County Police are investigating 28 reports of vehicles stolen.

The department is also investigating more than 70 reports of vehicle’s contents being stolen.

That’s what Oldham County Police have delt with in the first 3 months of 2023.

“All the vehicles from the reports we’ve taken, I would say 90% of the vehicles that have been gone through, all had left their vehicles unlocked," said Detective Sergeant Jared Ellison with Oldham County Police.

Ellison oversees the department’s investigative unit. He said the main issue is people are looking for easy money and easy access to vehicles.

“So, you know, they’re coming out 5-6 people at a time. They’ll bring 1 or 2 vehicles that are already stolen. They’ll come out here and you can see them on security footage. They’ll walk house-to-house and pull on car door handles," Ellison said. "The vehicles that are locked and secure, of course they’re moving onto the next house until they find one unlocked. During the course, while they’re still in vehicles, they’ve also gotten about 17 firearms stolen out of vehicles this year, from unlocked vehicles.” 

Police said the incidents are random but are believed to be connected. This is happening across Oldham County. Police have seen patterns lately in Crestwood and in LaGrange that are getting hit harder than other areas. Investigators also noticed patterns where people go to Crestwood for 2 days and nights in a row. Move over to LaGrange, then to the County’s Northside… in the Prospect and Goshen areas.

“When we generally see, say Crestwood, has been hit a couple nights in a row, we’ll try to focus some officers near the county lines to see if we can get any stolen vehicles coming across the county line. It’s primarily between 1 and 3 in the morning," Ellison said.

Police have charged and indicted some people in connection with these crimes.

“From the people we’ve been able to charge and indict on the crimes, of course most of them are juveniles coming from Louisville and a lot of them are either affiliated with, you know, some organizations or have a history of crime of this nature," Ellison said.

Ellison recommends locking vehicles at night and taking any belongings off the seats or floorboards that are in clear view. He said to not leave any firearms in the center console or glove box overnight.

“Garage door openers, I would take them inside at night," Ellison said. "Due to the fact that if they do get into your car, your car’s unlocked, that gives them opportunity to get inside your residence.

Ellison does not believe there is really any true danger to the public.

Ellison asks anyone who has video that may help police lead to any type of prosecution or arrest. If you’re willing to share that with police, they’d be more than happy to use that to try to identify any suspects.