Compiled by P. Waters from Woodinville Police reports

Lock ’em up

April 18: Police investigated a number of thefts from unlocked houses and cars last week.

In one case, a Woodinville couple parked their cars, unlocked, in the driveway of their house overnight.

The cars contained credit cards, a laptop computer containing sensitive work information, and a digital camera. All these items were stolen some time between midnight and 5 a.m.

In another case, expensive jewelry was stolen from a house whose owner doesn’t lock the back door and keeps a spare key to the front door under a planter on the patio. Note to self: Use locks.

Once trash, now $$$

April 11: Copper, once so cheap it didn’t pay to mine it anymore, is now valuable enough to steal.

In the same way, used cardboard, once consigned to the garbage, to some is now worth risking jail time.

About 4 a.m. recently, the night clerk at a local grocery store heard a van drive up the back alley. He saw a male with a very large build alight, scope out the area, then motion for the driver to join him.

Because of recent similar thefts, the night clerk figured they were after the bale of cardboard sitting nearby. He confronted the two large males and told them to leave, which they did, saving the grocery store the loss of $600 – the current value of a bale of used cardboard.