Article Launched: 05/26/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT

Heat, car burglaries on the rise
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times


A "high-five" moment turned out to be a premature celebration for a pair of alleged car burglars, said El Paso police, who caution that auto break-ins could rise along with the temperature.
Brothers Ricardo and Victor Velasquez, ages 39 and 38, are accused of taking a wallet out of a parked car about 3:45 p.m. Thursday in 4400 block of Montana Avenue in Central El Paso, police spokesman Darrel Petry said.

Unbeknown to the brothers, they were seen by off-duty Officer Patrick Natividad, who trailed them while calling police, Petry said. As the brothers ran, they went through the wallet, giving each other high-fives until moments later, when they were caught by responding officers with the Central Tactical Unit.

Ricardo and Victor Velasquez, both of the 4500 block of Hueco, were each charged with burglary of a vehicle and remained jailed on Thursday, jail records stated.

The case is part of an increase of about 8 percentage points in burglary of vehicles in El Paso so far this year, said police, who advised motorists not to leave items inside vehicles.

"A lot of cases are, unfortunately, citizens leaving vehicles open," police spokesman Javier Sambrano said. "The weather is really hot right now too, and you may have people leaving vehicles open because they don't want to get into a hot car."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_3865446