The first week of October saw a rise in opportunistic burglaries around Lincoln, with nearly double the amount of thefts as the previous week, said Lincoln Police Chief Brian Vizzusi.

“We had 11 thefts this week, compared with six last week,” he said. “Of the thefts, many were crimes of opportunity.”

Three thefts involved unlocked vehicles, two were in open garages and one was an open window.

“We want to urge the community to take measures to prevent these types of crimes,” Vizzusi said.

In line with recent efforts by police to urge citizens to make their cars “hard targets,” Vizzusi said residents also need to make sure they do not leave valuables in sight or fail to lock doors and close garages.

“Any time you have crimes occurring so close together, there’s the possibility they’re related,” Vizzusi said.

He said there is no hard evidence to suggest a relation at this point, however.

The majority of the crimes occurred from Oct. 1-3, with two thefts on Celtic Circle and four off Ferrari Ranch Road west of Highway 65.

Police have identified the suspect of a burglary on the 1600 block of First Street, but have not arrested him at this time, Vizzusi said. He did not want to release the name of the suspect, as it could hamper the investigation, but did say the suspect is a 23-year-old Hispanic male.