LAKEPORT – As tempting as it may be, leaving your keys in a running car in Lakeport isn't a good idea.

That scenario apparently provided an opportunity for a car theft earlier this month, on a day in which another, similar car also was stolen, according to Lakeport Police.

Lt. Brad Rasmussen said the two car thefts occurred on Monday, Jan. 12.

The first theft took place at Safeway on 11^th Street. Rasmussen said the owner of a blue 1993 Saturn stopped into the grocery store at about 8:30 a.m.

The owner left the keys in the ignition and the car running with unlocked doors while they ran into the store for something, said Rasmussen. When they returned a few minutes later, the car was gone.

Rasmussen said the Saturn later was found at Grocery Outlet on S. Main and Lakeport Boulevard. The keys were missing, as was the owner's cell phone, but the car did not appear to be damaged.

That wasn't the case for another vehicle stolen that same day, said Rasmussen.

Somewhere between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Jan. 12, a burgundy 1994 Saturn was taken from the parking lot of Bank of America on N. Main, said Rasmussen.

In this case, the owner had locked the vehicle and taken their keys, he said.

The California Highway Patrol recovered that vehicle on Jan. 15 in Nice, said Rasmussen.

It had been damaged, with its stereo and stereo speakers stripped from the vehicle. Rasmussen said damage was reported to total about $1,300.

He said police believe the two thefts are related, but so far have no evidence to prove it.

“We thought it might develop into a pattern but there's been nothing else,” he said, with no new car thefts since then.

Even in Lakeport, where the small town feel pervades, leaving a car unlocked with the keys inside isn't a good idea, said Rasmussen.

“We definitely advise people to lock their vehicles and maintain possession of their keys,” he said.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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