Kortrijk’s weekend crime wave: 10 burglaries and car thefts reported

Lailuma Sadid
Credit: VRT NWS

Kortrijk (Brussels Morning Newspaper): Over the weekend of October 19-20, 2024, Kortrijk experienced ten burglaries and car thefts, primarily targeting parked vehicles. Stolen items included cash, laptops, and keys. Police advise residents to lock their cars and hide valuables. They review camera footage to identify suspects and encourage reporting incidents to VLAS police at 1701.

Over the weekend of October 19 to 20, there were several burglaries and car thefts in Kortrijk, with police noting ten cases. People living in the city center and on the outskirts found their cars had been broken into. Many noticed personal items missing when they checked their vehicles on Sunday morning.

How can Kortrijk residents protect themselves from recent car thefts?

The stolen items included cash, perfume, bank cards, keys, laptops, sunglasses, regular glasses, and cigarettes. The thieves were targeting cars parked overnight, looking for valuables left inside. The police have not shared more information about suspects or leads but warning residents to stay alert and not leave valuables in their cars, especially overnight.

In Kortrijk, the thieves began their robberies by trying the door handles of parked cars, which is called “handle pulling,” according to the police. If they found an unlocked car, they would search inside and take small valuables. If they saw something valuable in a locked car, they would break a side window to get in and steal it.

Police are worried that people are not locking their cars and are leaving valuables in plain sight. They remind everyone to always lock their cars, whether during the day or at night, and to hide valuables in the trunk or take them inside. The police are trying to find the thieves by looking at camera footage from the area. Anyone who had their car broken into recently can report it to the VLAS police by calling 1701.

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Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.
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Lailuma Sadid is a former diplomat in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Embassy to the kingdom of Belgium, in charge of NATO. She attended the NATO Training courses and speakers for the events at NATO H-Q in Brussels, and also in Nederland, Germany, Estonia, and Azerbaijan. Sadid has is a former Political Reporter for Pajhwok News Agency, covering the London, Conference in 2006 and Lisbon summit in 2010.
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