Catoosa Police See Alarming Rise In Car Burglaries, Identity Theft

Catoosa Police said they are seeing an alarming increase in burglaries, shoplifting and identity theft.

Just in the last couple of days, Catoosa officers said they recovered more than 15 stolen credit and debit cards. 

Officers arrested Heather Williams for shoplifting at a Catoosa business, but police said that's not the only crime she's committed. 

“Was under the influence of narcotics, passed out at the store. When she passed out, she actually dropped all of her stolen credit cards and when I say stolen credit cards, she probably had ten different stolen credit cards in there," said Corporal Brent Colbert.

Colbert said the stolen credit cards came from several neighboring cities. He said identity crimes are increasing at an alarming rate. 

“They had some people’s probably whole lives. They had up to one person’s five or six credit cards. Their ID card, their car registration, I mean they had everything. That’s scary to know that it’s out there in some criminals’ car," said Colbert.

He said police arrested Ashley Gresham and Brionna Gordon at the Indian Hills apartment complex after someone saw them breaking into cars. 

“We caught them, and we actually had somebody’s wallet that had been broken into here in Catoosa that was stolen the night before and he didn’t even know it yet," said Colbert.

He said all three women are now facing a long list of charges.

Police want people to know this is happening so they can protect themselves by locking their car doors and watching their mail. 

“I would say about 75 percent of the time they have stolen mail with them too. So, they’re not just breaking into cars, they are hitting mailboxes on a regular basis," said Colbert.

Colbert recommends getting a P.O. box or a mailbox with a lock and key. He said that’s another way to prevent you from becoming a victim.