Car Thefts on the Rise in Williston | Video

Evan Kruegel | 1/17/2013

When you choose to leave your keys in the ignition and your car unattended, you might be asking for trouble. "It`s just an open invitation to a car running, sitting there warming up. Which most people do just because of the weather,” said Williston Police Detective Cory Collings.

The city had a 37 percent increase in auto thefts last year. Collings says more than 90 percent of those were not from hot-wiring, but from criminals simply taking a running car left unattended. "All of them, except one, which had the ignition broken out. The rest of them had the keys in the car or a second key somewhere around the car. It was easy access."

There are ways to prevent it. If you have a spare set of keys, start the car with one and then lock the car with the other. While better than nothing, that`s still not the safest solution, since criminals can break a window and still take the vehicle.

The safest option is to install a remote car starter. Greg Fuchs has already installed hundreds of them this winter, and he says it`s the safest way to start your vehicle without fear of losing your car. "Basically, you have to have the key loaded in the vehicle before you can put it in gear and drive away."

If a criminal breaks in and tries to drive away, he won`t get far. "If the key`s not there and the brake is pushed, the vehicle will just shut off. It won’t run.”

The best part? You can start your vehicle from over a half-mile away, meaning you don`t even have to get out of bed to give your car that morning wake up call.

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