Sheriff’s Office in the wake of a new wave of Lady’s Island thefts: Lock your vehicle!

A handful of breaking and entering reports across Lady’s Island Sunday night and early Monday morning serve as a reminder that unlocked vehicles — even in driveways of seemingly “safe” neighborhoods — are an invitation for theft, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.

Four vehicles were reportedly broken during that time period. One vehicle was stolen as well as cash and medication, according to three Sheriff’s Office reports.

The vehicle was reported stolen from a Thomas Sumter Street residence within the Royal Pines Country Club Estates and later recovered abandoned on a James D. Washington Road property on St. Helena Island, according to the report. The owner left the vehicle unlocked with a spare key inside.

Prescription medication was stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked at a Sams Point Road residence in the Tabby Oaks neighborhood, according to another report. The medication was left in a cup holder in the center console, the report said.

A pair of vehicles at a Cat Island home were left unlocked overnight, according to another report. About $40 was taken from a wallet left on the front passenger seat of one of the vehicles and the contents of the glove compartment was rummaged through in the other.

Capt. Bob Bromage of the Sheriff’s Office urged residents to lock their vehicles and set alarm systems.

“Thieves favor the path of least resistance,” Bromage said. “Unlocked vehicles offer no resistance at all.”

The thefts follow a string of break-ins to homes in two neighboring communities on Lady’s Island.

Seven Sheriff’s Office reports showed five home break-ins and one entered vehicle in the Newpoint community as well as one home broken into in the Bluff Farm community. Those thefts occurred Saturday night and Sunday morning. One of the homes and the vehicle were unlocked.

This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Sheriff’s Office in the wake of a new wave of Lady’s Island thefts: Lock your vehicle!."