As of Oct. 14, Summit County and surrounding areas have seen 26 vehicle break-ins since Oct. 2, according to Summit County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Mike Schilling.

That number includes Summit County’s towns, unincorporated parts of the county, Leadville and Vail, Schilling said, but just the unincorporated parts of Summit County have seen half of those break-ins.

These crimes tend to increase during “shoulder seasons,” or times of the year between peak tourism seasons, Schilling said.

“Summit County, historically, has been seen as a soft target by criminals that come up out of the Front Range,” Schilling said. “When tourism drops off, it simply means that there’s less people out there with their eyes open to witness crime, and so they see it as a good opportunity.”

Several recent break-ins have happened near ski areas like Copper Mountain and Keystone, Schilling said, likely because those areas are not currently busy, meaning there are few people around to witness the crimes. He added, though, that vehicle break-ins can happen anywhere people park their cars.

Summit County has shoulder seasons in the fall and spring. Schilling said he thinks of the current season as being between the end of leaf peeping season in late September or early October and the Christmas holiday, when ski tourism peaks. The other one, he said, is about May to June, between the end of ski season and when trails dry out.

The level of vehicle break-ins since Oct. 2 has been even higher than normal, Schilling said.

“For a two-week period, this is high,” Schilling said. “We have suspicions as to why it’s high, but that gets into the ongoing investigation.”

Schilling said no arrests have been made, but the Sheriff’s Office is working with local and regional law enforcement partners to investigate the break-ins. He said law enforcement has many tools at their disposal, like Flock cameras, which take photos of license plates throughout the county, private security cameras and evidence left in vehicles, but he added that investigations like these take time.

Thieves often try door handles on cars and steal out of any they find unlocked, so Schilling said remembering to lock your car can help deter the crime. 

The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office shared in a Facebook post Oct. 14 that there were multiple car break-ins at a hotel in Georgetown the night before. Thieves shattered a window on one car to gain entry, but the others had their doors unlocked.

Schilling also mentioned the importance of keeping valuables out of plain sight, though he said thieves might break in for almost anything they can see.

“They’ll steal anything that’s in plain sight,” Schilling said. “I don’t think they care. It might be a pair of sunglasses, it might be a wallet, it might be a phone, it might be a $5 bill. Anything that’s in sight is certainly tempting them.”

In one recent break-in, Schilling said, thieves stole a handgun, and in another break–in, they stole ammunition.

Colleen Goettelman, a spokesperson for the Breckenridge Police Department, wrote in an email that the department has had three car break-ins reported recently. The department shared tips to deter break-ins in a Facebook post, including parking under lights or in a secure area, taking all belongings out of your car, locking valuables in a trunk or keeping them out of sight and locking the car doors.

Shoulder seasons also see upticks in break-ins and squatting at residences, especially rental units that might not be booked for several months, Schilling said. 

Thieves often break into vehicles while driving stolen vehicles or cars with stolen license plates, making tools like Flock cameras less effective in the investigation. Schilling said people should check their license plates every so often to make sure they match and that one has not been stolen or replaced.

“If any of that happens, you should report it immediately,” Schilling said.

Schilling said people should also report if they have a plate fall off their car while driving. He said they should also remove their plates if they sell a car and, if they do remove plates for a sale, report to the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles that those plates are no longer on that car.