Officials with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office are investigating recent car break-ins that have occurred around Cave Run Lake.
The break-ins have been going on since the beginning of summer and occurring at all times of day. Police said 11 thefts have been reported to the sheriff’s office, eight of those in one day.
Officials are calling the investigation ‘smash and grab’, where a theif will walk by a vehicle, look inside, see something valuable and smash the window or test the car doors to see if any of them are unlocked. The break-ins have all been reported to be happening at boat ramps.
Matt Sparks is the Rowan County Sheriff. He said boat ramps are an easy spot for anyone to drive up to the car while the owner is out on the water.
“It’s my belief that one of the issues is, people will pull up here, pull up to the ramp and they are in a hurry to get down to the boat or maybe they are meeting friends and they will just leave visible items right out where people can look in a window and see them. You know, the doors are locked but again it is just an easy target,” said Sparks. “Especially through the week there’s not a whole lot of traffic down by the lake and most of the traffic, especially going to the boat ramps, are people going to put a boat in the water and are going to be gone for a few hours.”
Sparks said with the help of federal Forestry Service grant money, the station has been able to pay deputies overtime to scout the areas hit. There are also some remote cameras installed on light poles for extra surveillance.
Sparks said he has a lead on the investigation thanks to a Bath County Deputy.
“The Stoney Cove Ramp is on the Bath County side of the dam there at Cave Run and a Bath County Deputy Sheriff has got a really good lead that we are following up on. A young man, kind of caught running into the woods as he circled and pulled into the ramp area. So, we are doing some investigation on that young man now,” said Sparks.
Sparks said the young man has been identified, it is now a matter of being able to prove whether or not he is guilty for the crime.
Anyone who notices strange behavior around any of the Cave Run boat ramps is asked to call authorities immediately.