BALTIMORE (WBFF) — The crisis of cars being stolen in the Baltimore region has been a constant headline for several months.
According to data from the Baltimore Police Department, at least 10,766 auto thefts have been reported since Jan. 1.
“It's not a matter of if my car will be stolen,” Arch McKown, Safety Chairperson of the Patterson Park Neighborhood Association, told FOX45 News in July.“It's when ... Your car likely will be stolen if you park it in a public place here in Baltimore City if it’s a Hyundai or a Kia.”
Over the summer, McKown was one of the first to be outspoken over the growing problem of auto thefts in Baltimore.
“It’s a serious public safety hazard,” the chairperson said. “Because these cars, they’re stolen. Usually, it's juveniles who are doing it.”
In the weeks and months that followed, auto theft victims continued to come forward to share their stories with FOX45 News.
Andi Jarvis said her car was stolen from outside her home and later turned up in White Marsh.
“I have no idea who took it,” Jarvis told FOX45 News in September. “I have no idea what happened to the people that took it. Nothing.”
Headlines also soon reported that when it came to auto thefts, juvenile suspects were tough to hold accountable.
“It's very frustrating,” Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said in August. “You have officers doing their job, risking their life. You have victims who struggle to make the car payments, struggle to pay their insurance, doing what they can, and here comes a young kid – a child – stealing their car because it’s a game. They think the system will hold that child accountable but it's not happening.”
Some of the thieves were so brazen this year, they appeared undeterred by the watchful eye of surveillance.
When a car was stolen from FOX45’s parking lot overnight, the whole thing was caught on camera.
In September, a Baltimore County woman told FOX45 News she had to pay two city speeding tickets racked up by the suspects who stole her car.
“They said it probably happened while it was stolen,” Cindy Garofalo said. “They told me that. And I said, ‘Well, why should I have to pay for it?’ And they said, ‘Well, we’re not gonna release your car unless you pay the two speeding tickets.'”
FOX45’s drone captured an aerial view of the cars sitting inside the city impound lot.
At the time video was recorded in October, data from Baltimore City revealed nearly 20% of the cars inside the impound lot were previously stolen.
In November, Mayor Brandon Scott and Police Commissioner Richard Worley announced a 166% increase in juvenile auto thefts this year.
Baltimore City surpassed the milestone of 10,000 auto thefts in a calendar year by the end of November.
At the current rate, Baltimore is on pace to record more than 11,000 total auto thefts during 2023.
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December 29, 2023 at 03:02AM
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The nagging problem of Baltimore's auto theft crisis - Fox Baltimore
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