WILMINGTON — As the holidays are fast approaching we have been busy with an unusual amount of thefts of cars. They have been stolen from driveways in the northern part of the city where residents have started them to warm-up.

A handful of arrests have been made in connection with these thefts.

Over the last week we have handled 333 calls for service and we have arrested 22 people for various crimes.

Michael Moubray, 37, of Wilmington was arrested after officers were dispatched to a domestic and caught him allegedly leaving the scene. Moubray was charged with aggravated menacing after he allegedly pointed a weapon at his wife and was improperly transporting firearms. There are additional charges going to be filed on this case.

Some of the more notable arrests include James Wade, 38, of Wilmington for alleged theft; Amber Nickell, 27, at-large address for alleged theft and later in the week she was arrested for the same thing; Neil McKenzie, 37, of Wilmington for alleged domestic violence; Mathew Harlow, 26, of Hillsboro for alleged domestic violence and child endangerment; Karmen Meadows, 36, of Blanchester was charged with alleged theft; and Andrew Hill, 34, of Wilmington was charged with failure to comply and tampering with evidence after he allegedly refused to pull over for a traffic violation and then decided to swallow his drugs.

Hill was taken to CMH and later incarcerated. Additional charges will be filed on Hill pending lab reports.

The bulk of our calls revolve around assisting citizens. We did have four thefts during the week that were not car-related. They consist of items stolen from porches. Disturbances and assault related activity tends to increase around the holidays as tensions rise.

The Wilmington Police Department would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and travel safe during the holidays.

Duane Weyand is Chief of Police of Wilmington.