MANATEE COUNTY - A warning was issued Thursday from Manatee County Sheriff's officials: keep your car locked and your garage door opener hidden.

"That's all someone would have to do is reach in the truck.  I never really thought about that."  Larry Haymore never considered hiding his garage door opener, but he does now.  Earlier this week, thieves broke the window out of a van parked in one of his neighbor's driveways, used the garage door opener to open the garage, and drove away with a truck parked inside and the two dirt-bike type motorcycles in the back bed.  "That's a fault of mine too, I leave my garage door opener on the visor in the car, and I don't always lock the car.  Like everybody else, I always take the keys out, but don't always lock the car."

Sheriff's officials say keep your car doors locked and hide your garage door opener and any other valuables that may be inside.  "If in fact you hide that garage door opener and put it in a glove box and lock your glove box, then that's going to be one more step the person is going to have to take to get it, and usually they're trying to get in and out as quickly as possible," says Dave Bristow of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

Bristow says these thieves are hitting neighborhoods and apartment complexes where they have access to lots of cars all at once.  All they need is a few cars left unlocked, and they have easy targets.

Sheriff's officials say the best thing to do is keep your cars in your garage if you can.  This latest burglary happened sometime between 10:30 at night and 6:45 in the morning, and Sheriff's officials say these thieves move very quickly.