Textbooks being targeted by thieves?

We seem to be hearing more and more about car break in’s around the area. According to Fargo Police, however, they’re actually down by 23% so far this year. A recent one caught our eye here at Valley News Live: a woman’s car was broken into, thieves stealing a backpack full of textbooks worth an estimated $500. So is this a new trend?

The woman's car was parked along the 3100 block of 17th Street South when her backpack went missing and several neighbors say this area has been targeted before.

"We have to park outside and I'm worried. I don't keep anything of value in my car but I am worried about popping tires or smashing my windshield," Cyntha Dubord who lives in the area.

Dubord lives nearby where the theft happened. She says people will take anything and she won't keep certain items in her front yard.

"I bought some expensive iron stuff that I have to keep in the backyard because someone will walk away with it," she said.

Dubord along with some other students were shocked to hear textbook thefts are a thing.

"I have never heard of that," said Bailey Vareberg, an NDSU student.

"He had been at a library and left and came back and all his books were stolen," said NDSU student Erika Bauer.

Bauer says she heard about textbook thefts prior to coming to school.

NDSU’s Campus Police Chief says students should report thefts immediately to them. He adds that they have not seen a spike individual cases lately and tend to be crime of opportunity.

"It's not something they focus on that hard, it’s like my laptop, my phone, and then you look at a book like oh yeah that cost me $200 but you don't think too hard of that," Bauer said.

The Manager at Discount Textbooks says occasionally thefts happen, but they do work with Campus Police and they also track who is buying and selling their textbooks.

Campus Police say it can be hard to track down textbook thefts since they can be sold online. Discount Textbooks adds it’s not often people will sell textbooks they steal in the same town, they tend to go online. Fargo Police repeatedly say to lock up your car to prevent theft.