Thieves stealing cars from garages in western Shawnee, police warn

Shawnee police are seeing a significant increase in cars being stolen from residential garages, police said Monday.

Seven vehicles have been taken in the last week. In some cases, both vehicles in a two-car garage were taken.

Police said the crimes have been reported in the western portion of the city and tend to occur in the morning from about 5 to 8 a.m.

The crimes have involved forced entry into garages as well as thieves entering open doors. In some cases, keys had been left inside the vehicles.

Police are conducting extra patrols in the area, and are asking residents to report any suspicious activity.

They also are advising people to keep their vehicles locked and their garage doors closed. They also warned people against keeping keys or valuable items inside parked vehicles.

Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Shawnee police at 913-631-2150 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (816-474-8477).

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Thieves stealing cars from garages in western Shawnee, police warn."