The comfort of a nice warm car on a bitter winter day can be a great feeling but more and more Sioux Falls residents are making their vehicles easy targets for thieves this time of the year.

KSFY-TV is reporting that there has been a significant uptick in the number of stolen vehicles in and around town since our temperatures have fallen.

Their information comes from the Sioux Falls Police Department which has been working on 19 different stolen vehicle reports in just the last week alone.

Authorities won't say exactly how many of those involved unlocked vehicles that were being warmed up by their owners but the police are reminding everyone to lock the doors of any and all vehicles, whether they are running or not, to deter criminals.

As you can see from the map above the stolen vehicle reports are coming from all over Sioux Falls.

Currently, South Dakota is one of just 20 states that do not have laws outlawing the idling of unattended vehicles.

In some places like Washington DC, the fine is $5,000 for leaving a vechile running for as little a three minutes.


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