In the early 1980s, when the New Orleans Saints were so bad their fans wore paper bags over their heads, there was a story in the paper, probably apocryphal, that a Saints ticket owner couldn’t go to the game and he asked everyone he knew if they wanted to use the tickets but no one did. So he had to go downtown for an errand and he left his driver’s-side window open and left the tickets in plain view on the dashboard, hoping someone would steal them. When he ran his errands and then returned to the car, there were now four tickets there and a note from someone who had written something like, “I was walking by and noticed you were going to the game. I can’t use my tickets so I am leaving them for you.”

Of course, unlike that unlucky Saints fan, most of the time people do not want their car robbed. Which is unfortunate because in Guilford County that is happening a lot now.

Once, the current editor of the Rhino Times got his car window smashed in at 2 a.m. and the thief made off with a grand total of two dollars. The mistake the editor made: leaving a couple of dollar bills visible in the center console.

This weekend, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office sent out a public alert warning residents that thieves are breaking into vehicles – and they’re looking for a lot more valuable things than early ’80s Saints tickets.  They are also stealing a lot of cars.

The Sheriff’s Office is warning residents that sometimes all it takes to inspire a thief is a purse, a laptop or another tempting item left in sight.

Since Jan. 1 of this year, the Sheriff’s Office has recorded 169 offenses involving stolen vehicles or thefts from vehicles in the areas it patrols. That total includes 81 motor vehicle thefts and 88 larcenies from motor vehicles.

The Sheriff’s Office said that some recent break-ins have involved thieves simply smashing windows to get what’s inside.

Sheriff Danny Rogers and the department are urging drivers to make their vehicles as unattractive to thieves as possible. That means removing purses, wallets, electronics, cash and other valuables rather than trying to hide them inside the vehicle.

It also means, they say, something particularly important in North Carolina: Don’t leave a gun in the car.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, 20 firearms have been reported stolen from motor vehicles in areas patrolled by the Sheriff’s Office so far this year.

The department added that firearms stolen during vehicle break-ins often wind up being used in other crimes.

The problem locally comes at an interesting time because, nationally, vehicle theft is actually heading in the right direction after rising sharply earlier in the decade.

Preliminary FBI figures show property crime nationwide fell an estimated 12.4 percent from 2024 to 2025. More complete FBI data released this month put the decline in motor vehicle theft at nearly 23 percent in 2025.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau also reported a major decline in vehicle thefts in 2025 and called it a historic drop.

North Carolina nevertheless had 20,395 vehicles stolen during the year – the ninth-highest total among the states.  So we made it into the top ten.

North Carolina had already begun seeing some improvement before that. State Bureau of Investigation figures show the state’s motor vehicle theft rate fell 2.6 percent in 2024 after jumping 38.4 percent in 2023.

One factor in the national decline has been efforts by Hyundai and Kia to make some older vehicles harder to steal.

The two automakers became the focus of national attention after online videos showed how some models that didn’t have engine immobilizers could be stolen relatively easily. Hyundai and Kia subsequently offered anti-theft software upgrades and other measures for affected vehicles, and thefts of the two brands fell sharply in 2024.

That’s also why the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office is specifically advising Hyundai and Kia owners to make sure they’ve received any anti-theft software updates available for their vehicles.

The department recommends locking vehicles and closing all windows even when they’re parked at home.

Also,  possible, drivers should park in a garage or a well-lighted area and homeowners can consider motion-activated lights and security cameras.

A steering wheel lock can provide another layer of protection.

The department also suggests hiding a Bluetooth tracker or Apple AirTag inside your vehicle. That won’t keep somebody from stealing the car, but it may make finding it considerably easier afterward.

And the simplest advice remains the same: Don’t leave anything in the car that might give somebody a reason to break the window.

Anyone who sees a crime in progress or suspicious activity should call 911.

Longtime readers may remember a 2021 incident involving Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen and what became known in the Rhino Times as the “Deedsmobile.”

Thigpen’s Kia Sportage was stolen from the driveway of his northwest Greensboro home after he accidentally left the keys inside the unlocked vehicle. Some schoolbooks and golf clubs that had been in the SUV were later found tossed out not far from his home.

The Deedsmobile itself was eventually recovered, and the strange saga ended in a Rhino Times story titled “Cheech And Chong Abandon Stolen Deedsmobile.”

The SUV was found parked at an apartment complex near Western Guilford High School. Several other stolen cars were also parked nearby and recovered.

The Register of Deeds said his SUV was in pretty good shape considering.

“They pulled the mirror off of the windshield and cracked it,” he said. “My right headlight is busted. But, surprisingly, nothing in my car was actually stolen.”

Clearly, the thief, and perhaps some of his friends, did some joyriding in the vehicle. And not only did they not steal anything, they even left some things behind.

“It’s the weirdest thing,” Thigpen said back then. “When I opened up my car there was a pair of Air Jordans I’d never seen along with a three-fourths smoked joint,” he said, adding that police had not recovered the weed.

Thigpen, as could be expected, claimed the joint was left by the culprit and was not in the SUV before it was stolen.

“Maybe they left that as an apology,” Thigpen joked.

Thigpen didn’t say what had become of the unsmoked reefer.

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