COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. — Thieves have been breaking into the vehicles of first responders at fire stations along the Interstate 95 corridor stretching from Fredericksburg to Petersburg, according to police.
Dozens of vehicles have been vandalized, leading to costly repairs and theft of personal items over the past few weeks, as Crime Insider sources told Jon Burkett earlier this month.
Local News
Crime Insider: Thieves targeting firehouses across Central Virginia
Recently, several vehicles belonging to Petersburg firefighters were broken into at the Walnut Hill Fire Station and the Market Street Fire Station.
Capt. Jeff Fleming with the Petersburg Fire Department said his pickup truck's window was broken out.
“So they actually walked back here and it’s lit up, that’s what’s so surprising,” Fleming told CBS 6 senior reporter Wayne Covil. “They’re targeting us right now and why I don’t know, cause we’re here to do nothing but help the community we serve."
In Richmond, firefighters reported 10 break-ins at various fire stations, including two at Fire Station 8. Other fire stations in Fredericksburg and Henrico County have also been hit.
“The last thing you would think would be somebody would stop at a fire station or come to a fire station, break into somebody’s vehicles and steal something,” Battalion Chief Braden Peter with the Petersburg Fire Department said.
Following a recent incident at the Colonial Heights Fire Department, police released a picture of two people suspected of using a victim's debit card.
To counter the thefts, firefighters are taking measures to increase security.
While Fleming said crews are taking shifts to watch their vehicles, police in Petersburg said they are also "actively monitoring" the city’s four fire stations.
“We’ve had police officers, they’re sitting in the back parking lots at night,” Peter said.
Lt. Geoff Turner with Colonial Heights Fire said he is "taking a look out in the parking lot quite often when everybody else is asleep.”
Additional security measures, including installing surveillance cameras and improving lighting, are now in place at fire stations in Colonial Heights and Petersburg.
In a show of support for first responders, Smiley’s Mobile Glass Shop is offering assistance to those whose vehicles have been damaged. The owner believes that targeting first responders is unacceptable.
“When one of us gets attacked, I think we all feel it because this is our family away from home," Turner said. "We live here a third of our lives and when someone’s exploited, that it’s uncomfortable.”
Anyone with information about the suspects or thefts is urged to call Colonial Heights Police at 804-861-1212. If you have information but would like to remain anonymous, call the Chesterfield/Colonial Heights Crime Solvers at 804-748-0660 or submit a tip using the P3 mobile app.
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