Lincoln police see spike in burglaries in the city
One arrest leads to confiscation of many stolen items
Downtown cameras pay off with arrest of suspect responsible for graffiti

 

[August 13, 2024] 

At the Tuesday night Committee of the Whole meeting of the Lincoln City Council, Lincoln Police Chief Joe Meister offered reports on recent arrests.

He said that in the last month there has been a spike in burglaries in the city, and that there had been a particularly rough time in the last two weeks.

He said that the police investigation had led to identifying some of the people involved in the burglaries. As a result a search warrant was obtained for a residence in town, where a large number of stolen tools were found and confiscated.

Meister said that not all the tools had been reported as stolen, which is making it difficult to identify the owners. He said Lincoln police detectives are working on this and receiving help from Lincoln officers when time permits.

He said that he would speak to the citizens of Lincoln and urge everyone to lock sheds, garages, homes, cars, and construction trailers. He said this is where the majority of the burglaries are occurring.

Meister added that it is important to report incidents, even if you feel the person responsible may not ever be caught, calling the police is still a very important part of the process. He said, “We will take the time to come out and take your report and do the best we can.”

Alderman Kevin Bateman added that even if the burglary is an attempt only and nothing is stolen, it should still be reported. He said there could be evidence at the scene that would be helpful or someone in the neighborhood may have seen something or someone that could be helpful.

Bateman added that reporting burglaries or attempted burglaries on social media is not the same thing as reporting it to police.

Meister also advised the community to inventory their expensive items. He said that he takes photos of serial numbers and stores them in an album on his phone. He said those serial numbers will be extremely helpful when attempting to identify and claim stolen goods.

In a separate note, Meister also reported that a suspect has been arrested for painting graffiti on downtown buildings. He said that the downtown security cameras had paid off in this area, as there was a video of the alleged artist. Meister said the recording had been sent out to night duty officers who were able to identify and arrest the suspect. In addition, all necessary paperwork has been filed for the prosecution of the suspect based on the city code against spreading graffiti in the city.

[Nila Smith]