Thornton resident Becky Walker had executed every thing proper when she left her automotive within the car parking zone of her condo advanced.
Locked door? Verify. Alarm on? Verify. Keys in hand? Verify. Regardless of all of the safeguards, somebody stole her 2013 Kia Optima.
“I didn’t suppose anyone would truly steal a car,” Walker stated. “I don’t know why, due to course it occurs on a regular basis, however it doesn’t occur to me.”
Walker is considered one of hundreds of Coloradans who turned an auto theft sufferer in 2020 — a rising drawback throughout the pandemic that shocked regulation enforcement.
In 2020, auto thefts elevated 55% over the earlier yr with 27,895 autos reported stolen in Colorado, based on newly launched knowledge from Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority-Metropolitan Auto Theft Activity Drive. Of these, 20,185 occurred within the Denver space. The thefts price drivers hundreds of {dollars} in misplaced property and precipitated victims’ insurance coverage charges to extend.
Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock stated he didn’t count on automotive theft charges to go up a lot when residents began working from house.
“Auto theft was loopy,” he stated. “It was off the charts.”
When the novel coronavirus pandemic hit, auto theft developments rose considerably. Three weeks after Gov. Jared Polis introduced the statewide stay-at-home order final March, the metro space noticed about 261 car thefts per week.
The common elevated to 390 auto thefts per week in April, Might and June. By the third quarter, the duty drive recorded 462 stolen vehicles per week after which 459 have been stolen weekly within the fourth quarter.
With the pandemic, there are fewer individuals leaving their homes and their vehicles are sitting targets. Earlier than COVID-19, individuals would come house from work, go to the gymnasium or run errands, permitting for his or her automotive to be in numerous areas, moderately than sitting in entrance of their properties for lengthy durations of time, Mike Greenwell, who heads up the auto theft activity drive, stated.
“These vehicles are simply sitting in a car parking zone, that will increase the environmental elements,” Greenwell stated. “There are a bigger focus of autos to select from in a single explicit space.”
Patterns for auto thefts are laborious to come back by. There is no such thing as a explicit time or day of the week when extra vehicles are likely to get stolen, he stated.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle stated individuals steal vehicles to drive whereas committing different crimes. Typically criminals will dump one stolen automotive after the crime after which steal one other from the identical neighborhood.
“Because the financial crunch from the coronavirus affected numerous Coloradans, that’s a part of the rationale you see this improve,” Skyler McKinley, regional director of public affairs for the American Car Affiliation, stated. “It’s not individuals stealing vehicles as a result of they want vehicles, it’s stealing vehicles in order that they’ll commit crimes as a result of their again is towards the wall economically.”
Auto theft charges in 2021 are projected to be even larger than final yr, Greenwell stated.
In Lakewood, the county that oversees the duty drive, there have been 54 vehicles stolen in January, up from final yr’s depend of 16 vehicles throughout the identical month.
Colorado regulation enforcement recovers about 90% of the vehicles which might be stolen, Greenwell stated. In line with the Nationwide Insurance coverage Crime Bureau, the nationwide restoration fee is 59.3%.
“It’s only a cycle as a result of we get well a automotive, they steal one other one, we get well a automotive, they steal one other one,” Greenwell stated.
In 2020 Chevrolet Silverados, Honda Civics and Accords have been among the many most typical stolen vehicles. There have been 1,145 Silverados stolen, based on knowledge supplied by the auto theft activity drive, adopted by 956 Honda Civics and 924 Honda Accords.
Greenwell stated there are many movies on the web exhibiting find out how to steal a automotive. Older vehicles lack the superior expertise akin to transponder keys to stop auto theft. Older fashions don’t want a key to start out the ignition — a flaw that the chip keys shield towards.
With an older automotive, McKinley stated, most house owners gained’t fear a few door ding or hail harm, so it’s frequent for drivers to solely carry legal responsibility or collision protection. However these restricted insurance policies don’t cowl auto theft.
“It’s simply not price paying the additional premium each month for complete protection, which suggests after all, if the automotive is stolen, you’re left holding the bag as a person,” McKinley stated.
Auto theft victims typically face elevated insurance coverage charges if they’ve complete protection, McKinley stated. Generally, they need to dip into financial savings to pay for damages and, in some instances, a wholly new automotive.
For Walker, the lacking automotive is a monetary hit. Though her insurance coverage is paying half of her rental automotive charges, she is struggling financially. Due to the pandemic, her hours at her job have been lower, however the rental charges damage her funds, particularly for the reason that automotive had been paid off.
Not solely was the automotive her technique of transportation to work, but additionally an emblem of her independence. After her divorce, her automotive was the very first thing she bought on her personal.
“I’m alive, I preserve saying I’m alive, however it’s devastating,” she stated. “As a single girl offering for myself, and just one car, it’s been fairly powerful. … It could actually occur at any time.”
