Whenever Michelle Crist parked her car in the driveway of her West Hempfield Township home, she didn't lock it. She reasoned, there's no crime on her cul-de-sac, tucked away in a peaceful subdivision. There is even a street light.

Now she's out $200. That's the value of the iPod, its accessories, and the CD collection stolen from her car one night earlier this month.

The crime was not an anomaly.

Thefts from vehicles - usually unlocked - have risen since spring. And despite warnings from police, trusting locals continue to invite malfeasance by leaving cars unlocked, valuables in view, or both.

Thieves have tended to hit whole neighborhoods, usually overnight. The most commonly taken items, according to police, are cash, CDs and small electronics such as GPS units and iPods.

Overnight Saturday, Nov. 14, in East Petersburg and Manheim Township, more than $3,700 in valuables and cash were stolen from 15 vehicles; 10 were unlocked and five had windows smashed.

Other townships, including Warwick, Ephrata, West Hempfield and East Lampeter, have seen similar crimes.

"Warwick Township's been getting hammered in the last few months," said Rich Garipoli, Warwick Township's police chief. "In the last 30 days we've had a lot. All of them, except one or two, are from open vehicles."

Those snatching spare change are often kids, but most culprits are adults out for bigger prizes, Manheim Township Police Sgt. Tom Rudizinski said.

"It's the stuff that's easily grabbed that is easy to ... sell on the street to get a few bucks for drugs," Rudizinski said.

Several police departments have issued warnings (to little avail) imploring citizens to protect themselves by taking basic precautions.

Not my neighborhood

Drivers leave their vehicles unlocked or valuables in plain view because they think their neighborhoods are safe, Garipoli said.

"And 90 percent of the time they are," he said. "But it's the 10 percent you have to watch out for."

No one is immune. "They actually hit cars within a hundred yards of my home," Garipoli said.

Research has shown that people often tend to misjudge how dangerous their own neighborhoods are, said Mary H. Glazier, sociology and criminology professor at Millersville University.

"What we found is that sometimes conditions have improved, but people think things have gotten worse," she said. "And the 'good' neighborhoods are not always as free of crime as they thought."

Dennis Cross, 57, is a former New York City police officer and lives in a Warwick Township development thieves hit earlier this month.

Neither his nor his wife's cars were robbed, but Cross wasn't surprised that others nearby were.

When the couple first moved from New York to Warwick Township 14 years ago, they were flabbergasted by the trusting nature and habits of some Lancastrians, they said.

Their new friends and neighbors didn't lock their homes or cars. They not only left cars unlocked, but left keys on vehicle floors, in the ignition or on top of a tire - even in store parking lots, the Crosses said.

"It's safer here than in New York," Mrs. Cross said. "But Pennsylvania people, they just trust too much."

"Lock your cars, remove your valuables from view - preferably from the car," Rudizinski said. "Take the mount off the windshield because [thieves] know there's a GPS behind. And if you see people just meandering throughout the parking lots just call the police right away.

"Why people aren't heeding that advice, I don't know," he said.

"People are finding they can't do things the old way," yet they continue to, Mr. Cross said.

As drivers pack more small, valuable electronics, thefts will continue to increase until drivers learn the hard way to take precautions, Glazier said.

"I think they are basically crimes of opportunity which have increased faster than people's realization that they are at risk," Glazier said.

Contact Jeannette Scott, Sunday News Staff Writer, at jscott@lnpnews.com.