Suspects arrested in connection with car thefts in Billings, BPD, Montana s News Leader, Billings, MT
Suspects arrested in connection with car thefts in Billings, BPD – KULR8.com | Montana’s News Leader | Billings, MT
UPDATE: The Billings Police Department reports twenty six Honda vehicles stolen in Billings inbetween April 4th and May 28th.
BPD Lieutenant Neil Lawrence also released information Thursday morning that officers and detectives from the Billings Police Department have been working leads and conducting interviews related to these car thefts over the past seventy two hours.
According to Lawrence, one officer attempted to stop a vehicle on the morning of May 31st that was found to be a stolen vehicle. Lawrence said that vehicle then fled from the downtown area but was later located along with another stolen Honda Accord. BPD said two suspects were ultimately arrested, Michael J. Marino and Michael D. Brien, both nineteen and Billings residents.
Lawrence reported that these incidents and the extra investigative work has led to the recovery of seven stolen Honda vehicles, the arrests of two suspects, and the identification of other suspects.
At this time, the Billings Police Department is still continuing with the investigation.
As of Friday morning, two hundred fifty vehicles have been reported stolen in the Magic City this year.
Lt. Neil Lawrence says one hundred eighty five of those vehicles have been recovered, but that doesn’t stop car thieves from attempting to steal.
«We still have people who do commence the vehicle in the morning and it’s still a little cooler to let the vehicle warm up and, unluckily, that’s a big reason why a lot of the vehicles are stolen.»
Wayne Ham had his vehicle stolen three weeks ago. He says he left his door unlocked.
“It’s not the very first time I left my vehicle here alone. Usually, I pull into the yard, but I thought ‘oh, it’ll be okay for one night’ and I didn’t lock it. Mainly, I just, you know, it’ll be fine, you know. I grew up in this town, I like this town. I’d like to think this town could be, you know, good again.”
Lt. Neil Lawrence tells KULR-8 that there’s a device out there that can mimic your key fob permitting anyone with one of these devices access to your vehicle.
Kody Mills learned of the technology after his truck was stolen May 20th.
Mills had both sets of keys with him at the time.
“They said it’s a truly, truly common thing, unluckily. And basically, they, you know, the way technology is, they don’t indeed need a key anymore, which blows my mind.”
Lt. Lawrence reminds everyone to take preventative measures as much as possible.
“Lock it somehow. You know, I know a lot of the newer vehicles- once somebody does get into it, it starts up, it automatically shuts off, but if you don’t have that feature, figure out a way to secure the vehicle if you indeed feel that you need to be away from it while it’s running.”
Lt. Lawrence adds that the rate of thefts so far this year is consistent with previous years.
Suspects arrested in connection with car thefts in Billings, BPD, Montana s News Leader, Billings, MT
Suspects arrested in connection with car thefts in Billings, BPD – KULR8.com | Montana’s News Leader | Billings, MT
UPDATE: The Billings Police Department reports twenty six Honda vehicles stolen in Billings inbetween April 4th and May 28th.
BPD Lieutenant Neil Lawrence also released information Thursday morning that officers and detectives from the Billings Police Department have been working leads and conducting interviews related to these car thefts over the past seventy two hours.
According to Lawrence, one officer attempted to stop a vehicle on the morning of May 31st that was found to be a stolen vehicle. Lawrence said that vehicle then fled from the downtown area but was later located along with another stolen Honda Accord. BPD said two suspects were ultimately arrested, Michael J. Marino and Michael D. Brien, both nineteen and Billings residents.
Lawrence reported that these incidents and the extra investigative work has led to the recovery of seven stolen Honda vehicles, the arrests of two suspects, and the identification of other suspects.
At this time, the Billings Police Department is still continuing with the investigation.
As of Friday morning, two hundred fifty vehicles have been reported stolen in the Magic City this year.
Lt. Neil Lawrence says one hundred eighty five of those vehicles have been recovered, but that doesn’t stop car thieves from attempting to steal.
«We still have people who do begin the vehicle in the morning and it’s still a little cooler to let the vehicle warm up and, unluckily, that’s a big reason why a lot of the vehicles are stolen.»
Wayne Ham had his vehicle stolen three weeks ago. He says he left his door unlocked.
“It’s not the very first time I left my vehicle here alone. Usually, I pull into the yard, but I thought ‘oh, it’ll be okay for one night’ and I didn’t lock it. Mainly, I just, you know, it’ll be fine, you know. I grew up in this town, I like this town. I’d like to think this town could be, you know, good again.”
Lt. Neil Lawrence tells KULR-8 that there’s a device out there that can mimic your key fob permitting anyone with one of these devices access to your vehicle.
Kody Mills learned of the technology after his truck was stolen May 20th.
Mills had both sets of keys with him at the time.
“They said it’s a indeed, indeed common thing, unluckily. And basically, they, you know, the way technology is, they don’t indeed need a key anymore, which blows my mind.”
Lt. Lawrence reminds everyone to take preventative measures as much as possible.
“Lock it somehow. You know, I know a lot of the newer vehicles- once somebody does get into it, it starts up, it automatically shuts off, but if you don’t have that feature, figure out a way to secure the vehicle if you indeed feel that you need to be away from it while it’s running.”
Lt. Lawrence adds that the rate of thefts so far this year is consistent with previous years.
