Attempted vehicle thefts in Oxford spike on St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick's Day brought multiple attempted car thefts along with the festivities in Oxford this year.
The Oxford Police Department (OPD) responded to three attempted vehicle thefts on March 17, including one in which the vehicle was recovered in Hamilton.
The next day, OPD received one report that property had been stolen out of a vehicle, and another report that a woman’s car window had been broken but that nothing was stolen.
Two of the three attempted vehicle thefts were Hyundai sedans. All three victims reported that the attempted thefts occurred between the evening March 16 and the morning hours of March 17. One of the Hyundai sedans was successfully stolen from an apartment complex on Foxfire Drive, but the vehicle was recovered in Hamilton with a stripped ignition system and broken window.
One of the other two attempted vehicle thefts occurred at Hawks Landing, and the other was on South College Avenue just south of Foxfire Drive. In both instances, the perpetrators shattered a window, peeled the steering wheel column and left footprints on the seats.
On March 18, a woman reported that multiple items had been stolen from her vehicle while it was parked overnight at Miami Preserve. The vehicle had been left unlocked overnight, and the woman’s laptop, backpack, wristlet, license, bank cards, car keys and house keys were all stolen. According to an incident, the stolen items had a total worth of $1,615.
Also March 18, officers responded to a broken car window at 101 W Church St. While the driver’s side door window was broken, “It appeared that entry was not made into the vehicle” and nothing was reported as stolen, according to the incident report. A media report from OPD classified the incident as criminal mischief.
The department had no suspects for any of the incidents at the time the reports were filed. According to previous weekly media reports from OPD, only two additional attempted or successful motor vehicle thefts have been reported in Oxford so far in 2025.
The most recent media report included Green Beer Day, March 20, but only one alcohol-related incident was reported when officers were dispatched to a High Street bar for “liquor violations.” A member of OPD confirmed that the department did not make any underage drinking arrests on that day. The Miami University crime and fire log showed two medical assists on Green Beer Day and one incident of property damage but no alcohol violations.
