Car burglaries in downtown Tulsa up, even on Sundays

Tulsa burglars are preying on church members. While hundreds of people were worshipping in downtown Tulsa churches Sunday, thieves were busy breaking into their cars. <br><br>Tulsa Police say this is

Tuesday, March 26th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa burglars are preying on church members. While hundreds of people were worshipping in downtown Tulsa churches Sunday, thieves were busy breaking into their cars.

Tulsa Police say this is a huge problem in downtown, not just on Sunday's, but seven days a week. Stacie Slimp parked her car at First United Methodist Church Sunday morning just like she always does. After worship service, she had the shock of her life, someone had jimmied open her door lock and yanked out her stereo. "They took my CD player worth $200-300 and went through my CD's. They didn't take any of mine, but, took all of my husbands and then took off the whole visor slip."

Slimp says worse than the financial hardship this has caused, is the feeling of being heartsick that criminals damaged her sense of safety and security. "I have a detachable face on my c-d player and at the store or at the mall, I always take it off, but, there, I felt safe and thought nothing would ever happen. I feel violated."

The fact is, thieves are opportunists. They want what they can see. So, if what they can see is your CD player, cell phone, wallet or sunglasses, that's what they'll take. So, to protect yourself, hide them or take them out. Police say Slimp is not the only victim and it's not just happening on Sundays.

Since January 1st, they've had 131 cars broken into in downtown parking lots. Tulsa Police have stepped up their patrols, but, say it's tough to catch thieves who have so many empty cars to choose from and who can commit their crimes in a matter of seconds. And as Slimp found out the hard way, they don't care who they steal from or when.

Some of the members at First United Methodist Church took up a special collection to replace Slimp's stolen stereo.