For police the advice is more urgent than usual as several neighborhoods in west Cary have recently been hit by someone who enters unlocked vehicles and uses the openers to enter residences.

Nearly 20 incidents in the early morning hours of Aug. 17 and again Aug. 18 attributed to the same suspect or suspects were reported in the Carpenter Village, The Reserve and Cary Park neighborhoods.

The combination of breaking into vehicles to facilitate getting into homes concerns police even more than the crimes would individually.

“Once you take it from going into a car and then going into a residence, even if it’s just a garage, that raises it a level,” said Capt. Mike Williams of the Cary Police Department.

Property taken has included global-positioning system units, purses, cash, debit and credit cards, iPods, cell phones and car keys.

There have been a few breaks so far. About 1:15 a.m. Aug. 17 a homeowner on Edgemore Avenue in The Reserve encountered in his garage a juvenile white male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall wearing a baseball cap and a light colored shirt. Once spotted, the suspect walked away. The victim then saw a light colored vehicle go down the road and turn away, Williams said.

None of the property has yet been spotted in area pawn shops, Williams said.

However, stolen debit and credit cards have been used in Durham and police are pursuing those leads, Williams said.