HARTFORD, Conn. — As the holiday season approaches, consider a steering wheel lock for your gift list. Facing a surge in vehicle thefts, Hartford Police are handing out the devices free of charge. But they are only available for Hartford residents and you have to own either a Hyundai or Kia.
Those two brands have made up 40% of all the vehicles stolen.
As the months get colder, vehicle thefts tend to increase because people leave the car running to heat it up. Police said don’t do it.
“Quite alarming. It’s quite a problem,” remarked Hartford Police Lt. Aaron Boisvert.
Hartford Police said vehicle thefts in the Capitol city have skyrocketed 103% since just last year to 902 vehicles so far. Connecticut law enforcement agencies launched a regional task force to tackle the problem.
“They are called the GHRATF team. The Greater Hartford Regional Auto Theft Task Force. It’s about eight towns now. This year they’ve made about 195 arrests. 50% of those were juveniles,” said Boisvert.
While police said it’s mostly young kids stealing cars for the cheap thrill of a joy ride, that isn’t always the case.
“It’s organized. It’s organized crime on a large scale,” said Shamar Mahan of Mike & Tony Auto Sales in South Windsor.
The dealership recently had four luxury cars stolen from their lot. A loss of about $400,000. The thieves busted through the gate in full view of the surveillance cameras.
“These are professionals targeting us. They are profiting off of us. They are surveilling us, watching and scoping out the area for God knows how long,” said Mahan.
The stolen vehicles are then usually taken out of state and posted for sale on underground social media pages.
“It’s almost like a don’t ask, don't tell system where you are getting these premium vehicles at an extremely discounted price. You can assume that they didn’t get the vehicle in the most honest way,” explained Mahan.
Mahan told FOX61 they’ve spent thousands on security upgrades but are calling on state leaders to back them up.
“They are just waiting and looking for the next target. Today it’s us. Tomorrow it could be you,” added Mahan.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
---
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.