Vandalism, burglary and identity theft are some common crimes that police officers at the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department deal with in Saratoga.

Sometime during the last week of December, mail was stolen from a mailbox on Miller Court while the homeowner was out of town. Checks linked to the homeowner's credit card were taken with the mail. The thief used the checks to make purchases amounting to $1,062.

Capt. John Hirokawa of the Santa Clara County sheriff's office said mail theft is a growing problem in Saratoga.

"We have people going down the streets emptying people's mailboxes," he said, adding that outgoing mail is a special target because it is an easy way for ID thieves to gather important information about their victims.

"ID theft has been escalating over the last seven years," Hirokawa said. "It's now our No. 1 property crime."

Hirokawa recalled one woman last year who walked local neighborhoods with her baby. She would empty mailboxes and stash the mail in the baby stroller. When she was arrested, she had more than 1,000 pieces of mail from about 250 different people. She was also in possession of several fake ID cards and had opened some checking accounts.

"Within two months of her arrest, she was out again," Hirokawa said. The police re-contacted her after she failed to appear for her court date. "She had several fake California driver's licenses on her and stolen mail. We took her back to jail. That's the cycle."

Some mail thieves wash the ink off checks to increase the amount and make the check out to themselves. Some will fill out forms for pre-approved credit cards and then start spending in someone else's name.

"It's a hassle to clear that stuff up," Hirokawa said. "It can take 16 to 18 months to straighten out your credit."

Hirokawa said that ID theft is a difficult crime to investigate, especially once the thief has left the local jurisdiction. Stolen credit cards are often used out of state or as far away as France and Italy.

"It's a lot easier to steal someone's identity than to rob a bank," Hirokawa said. "And sometimes it's more lucrative."

A town like Saratoga is a target because thieves know residents have disposable incomes, Hirokawa explained. Mail thieves look for that little flag up on mailboxes, he said. "Don't leave your outgoing mail out. Take it to a drop box or a post office. If you have a curbside mailbox, we recommend that you get a locked mailbox."

Hirokawa said that the days of leaving outgoing mail in curbside mailboxes should have ended five to seven years ago.

Car vandals

The night of Jan. 19 was especially hard on local vehicles. Seven cars were broken into or vandalized in Saratoga that night.

On Paseo Pueblo, a laptop and a purse were stolen from a vehicle after its window had been smashed in. A radar detector was stolen from a vehicle parked on Fourth Street after one of its windows was smashed in. On Baylor Avenue, a vehicle's convertible top was ripped open, and a satellite radio worth $200 was stolen.

The windows of four other vehicles had been smashed in with rocks, causing about $250 worth of damage per vehicle, although no items were stolen. Two of the vehicles were hit on Glen Brae Drive, one on Glen Brae Court and another on Ten Oak Way.

Hirokawa said that the three auto burglaries were probably unrelated to the four broken vehicle windows with no items taken. Teenagers throwing river rocks from a moving vehicle probably hit the cars on Glen Brae Drive, Glen Brae Court and Ten Oak Way, he said.

"This periodically happens," he explained. People, usually local teenagers, will sometimes drive around with baseball bats, BB guns, paintball guns or wrist rockets and attack car windows, lights and mailboxes. "In 2004, we had 10 to 15 broken car windows every other week," he said. The teenagers responsible were finally caught, and that spate of broken windows ended.

But auto burglaries are a different problem, Hirokawa said. Paseo Pueblo and Baylor Avenue, in particular, have had periodic problems with people breaking vehicle windows and taking valuables.

Hirokawa said thieves could silently break car windows using readily available items, such as emergency glass-breaking tools. Hirokawa said laptop computers are probably the most common item taken from parked vehicles, along with wallets and purses. Items such as sunglasses and CDs, which can be sold on the black market, are also common targets.

"You just can't leave things visible in your vehicle, or they'll go after them," Hirokawa said.

The thieves tap a car window and silently break it, then reach in and take items without leaving fingerprints. If no witnesses come forward with descriptions or license plate numbers, auto burglaries have a low solve rate. The thieves usually get away unless they are caught in the act or are pulled over with the stolen property.

Hirokawa said the best way to prevent auto burglaries and vandalism is to put motion-detector lights in front of homes, not leave valuables in vehicles and stay vigilant.

He said the night of Jan. 19 was a bad one for vehicles in Saratoga, but he has seen worse. Earlier in January, there were 16 auto burglaries in one night in Los Altos Hills.