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The Madison Police Department says its Burglary Crime Unit has noted that most young burglars do not take vehicles with manual transmissions, likely because they don't know how to drive them.

And that may have saved a West Side family from losing its two cars on Saturday morning, police spokesman Joel DeSpain said in a statement.

A neighbor called for police about 7:45 a.m. Saturday after seeing signs of a home burglary on Offshore Drive that included a window screen on the ground behind a house, the window being open, and a couple of purses on the ground with contents scattered about, DeSpain said.

Officers woke up the homeowners, who had slept through the burglary, but were aware of their dog barking at some point, DeSpain said.

Keys to two parked cars were found outside, and someone had rummaged through the cars, but did not steal them, possibly because both had manual transmissions with stick shifts, DeSpain said.

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