By Jack Lee
Stockton – 13 Jun 07, it wasn’t exactly like an espisode of Heart to Heart, but it did prove one thing, if you live with a cop long enough some of it is bound to rub off.
Jennifer Lee, 35, was home for lunch and noticed a Chrysler 5th Avenue parked near their home, but it was not just that it didn’t belong in the neighborhood, she spotted the small wing window in the left rear door knocked out and this is what really alerted her suspicions.
She walked over to the empty car and saw the cracked housing on the steering column near the locking ignition and that cinched it, because now it fit the profile that she had heard her husband talk about so often. Jennifer, called her husband, Ken who is with SPD and gave him the license number. He ran it from his patrol car and sure enough it came back as stolen, in fact it was on his latest hot sheet. The vehicle was recovered for the owner.
Jennifer was pretty excited, it was her first stolen vehicle recovery, although her real job is running a Women’s Crisis Counselling Center in Stockton. Officer Lee is a 7 year veteran of the force and 3 time winner of the “10851” award (given for the recovery of stolen vehicles). He said there are about 30 vehicles stolen every day in his city. They are currently experiencing the highest rate of auto theft in the nation on a per capita basis. He said at least half of the stolens are by kids under 16 and typically a member of a street gang. The most commonly stolen car, a Honda Civic.