Car thefts in San Marcos have increased, police say
Car thefts on the rise in San Marcos
Auto thefts tend to go up during the summer. San Marcos police said this year was no different.
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Auto thefts tend to go up during the summer. San Marcos police said this year was no different.
Stolen vehicles in San Marcos
By the numbers:
San Marcos police took 49 stolen vehicle reports in May, June, and July this year. That is one more than during that same time period last year.
San Marcos Police Detective Casey Tennant said part of the problem is opportunity.
"The car is left unlocked. They'll check it to see if they can start it. They start the car and then, all of a sudden, a burglary has now turned into a theft," Detective Tennant said.
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San Marcos police said 38 percent of vehicles stolen in June and July were unlocked and nearly a quarter had the keys inside. Push-button ignitions can make that mistake even easier.
"They'll leave it in a purse, or they'll leave it in the center console and walk away from their vehicle and now their vehicle is susceptible to anybody coming up and pulling the handle and trying to steal their car," Detective Tennant said.
Detective Tennant said certain cars remain a popular target.
"We still see the Kia and Hyundai thefts are pretty prevalent here in this town," Detective Tennant said.
Dig deeper:
What do the thieves do with these cars?
"There's a group of people that will take them and do VIN swaps to change their identity and sell them to other individuals and then some of them will leave them abandoned in very hard locations to find," Detective Tennant said.
That could be after they use them for other crimes.
"Anytime there's a potential that these vehicles are used to commit other crimes or steal firearms and introduce them back into our population, I think those are the reasons that we want to get ahead of this crime as early as possible, get some cooperation from victims. If we can get some of these numbers to be reduced, it makes it a lot easier to focus on some of the other offenses that are underlying with the auto theft that occurs, other burglaries and other crimes to get committed," Detective Tennant said.
Local perspective:
"I was a bit perplexed. I think when I first saw it, I just had a shock go through my body. I've never dealt with that before," Sean Markiewicz said.
Sean Markiewicz dropped his car off at a San Marcos auto shop and left it there for a little more than a week. When he came back, he found someone had broken into it.
"I'm definitely glad nothing was stolen out of it and also the vehicle wasn't stolen," Markiewicz said.
San Marcos police said his story is a reminder of how quickly a car break-in can turn into something more.
What you can do:
Police said the best way to keep your car from becoming a crime of opportunity is to take away the opportunity by removing valuables, locking the doors, and taking the keys with you.
The Source: Information from the San Marcos Police Department