Grand Theft Auto

highspeedhijinks

Where I live in upstate NY suburbia, auto theft rarely crosses my mind. I couldn’t tell you how many times this past winter that I’ve left my car running as I grabbed something quick from the convenience store on my way to work (to warm up the car before I start my commute, not ’cause I like to waste gas). I know for some of you, though, car theft is always on your mind when you walk away from your ride. The FBI “Uniform Crime Reports” for 2007 stated that a car is stolen in the U.S. every 28.8 seconds. That worked out to 363 cars stolen for every 100,000 that are on the road. They also noted that the worst cities were typically in year-round warm climates–San Diego CA, Larado TX, and Phoenix AZ made the top 10 with ease. There was some good news though: the theft rate dropped 8.1 percent from 2006 and 2007. One can only wonder what those statistics will look like for 2008-2009–considering the economic crisis it probably won’t look good. So I ask you, how would you rate the car theft in your area?

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Posted at 5:23 am in Criminal Intent, David Clarke

Comments

lifeonacloud
Mar 26, 2009 at 7:10 am

Ive walked out of stores at night to go back to my truck and people have been pulling on the handles and trying to get in, telling me to mind my own business, Dude it’s my fucking truck. One guy had the door open (forgot to lock it) and his head up under the dash, Kicked him in the back hit his head and ran away. Fuckin idiots, get a fucking job!

phattacorider
Mar 25, 2009 at 10:50 pm

I live in Las Vegas, NV…Car theft is only bad in “those” areas. I only live in the areas where people steal boats, sound systems, and motorcycles. Some jerkoff tried stealing my system in the back of my 02 Tacoma (when I had it). Alarm went off and I saw him take off in some car. I called the cops and when he was making a right hand turn somewhere I hit him hard, he pulled a donut and his car went haywire and he left it in the intersection. Cops didn’t charge me with anything but told me I put myself at risk, and I told them I didn’t want them getting away to try that shit on me again. Fortunately for me, the dude wasn’t driving a stolen car, so he was caught quickly. I didn’t report it to my insurance, I paid $3500 to get my front end fixed.

JDMJunkee
Mar 25, 2009 at 10:03 pm

lol sorry the picture is just too funny.

“Uncle Jerry!? what are you doing by that car with that skimask?”

Devious505
Mar 25, 2009 at 7:31 pm

i live in albuquerque nm and last time i heard we were #1 for the most grand theft auto, isnt that good to know

strawbfo
Mar 25, 2009 at 4:41 pm

My town aint bad but for safe keeping I have that program tied into the KENWOOD GPS on my lexus so if it is stolen I get on the computer and locate it. I dont ever trust anybody with anything no matter the neighborhood.

germn91
Mar 25, 2009 at 2:01 pm

very safe in the neighbourhood but downtown is another story lol

FordRulesAll
Mar 25, 2009 at 12:53 pm

Where I live every car my parents have had as gotten busted into, someone tried with my Taurus, my neighbors cars have gotten spoiler ripped off, wheels stolen, and stuff just busted into. It’s crazy over here.

1lowscort
Mar 25, 2009 at 11:58 am

I have no worries about it, I tend to leave my keys in the ignition with the T-tops off in the summer, even when going to Wal-mart or something. I figure rolling up the windows and locking the doors gives somebody more reason to break a piece of glass to get into my car to steal whatever they think they need, though, the car doesn’t even have a radio to steal. The keys in the ignition is just a bad habit that I have been trying to get out of. It is tough.

___nes___
Mar 25, 2009 at 11:26 am

I don’t even remember last time I saw a car being stolen here (maybe 3 years ago.) but still worry about it since I live close to San Diego.

sarahsmile90
Mar 25, 2009 at 9:51 am

Viewing the results just tells me that most readers on this blog live in relatively nice areas. Car theft in Metro Detroit is quite common. In my area more break ins, but go to the big city and it happens all the time.

hockeyrider18
Mar 25, 2009 at 9:41 am

Up here in cold Calgary, car thefts are fairly uncommon, there are enough that the police just instituted a bait car program that has seen a significant drop in car thefts. The main problem is parking your car downtown during the warmer months and coming back to see a crackhead’s put a rock through your window and stolen $20 of CD’s after breaking a $200 window.

Oafman
Mar 25, 2009 at 8:08 am

Car theft is fairly rare in my area but car break ins are pretty common. My cars have been broken into about 10-15 times inthe last 6 years. The police in my area don’t even try to do anythign about it either.

GlamismanTJ
Mar 25, 2009 at 7:13 am

I believe what it says about warm climates. I live in a good part of Phoenix and several of my neighbors have had their trucks stolen, with most of them being diesel F250. Most of them were stolen when the truck was sitting in their driveways so my family keeps all of our cars in the garage or behind a locked gate.

DangrRangr
Mar 25, 2009 at 7:05 am

I’m sure it goes on in parts of baton rouge, but where i’m at right next to campus it doesn’t seem like that big of a problem. Back home in lutcher it’s a small town, it’s grown but it’s everybody still knows everyone, and we never really have car thefts. There’s the occasional lowlives that wonder out of the bad parts of town and go through the nicer neighbor hoods stealing kids’ bikes and stuff out of garages and stereos out of unlocked cars, but never anything huge.

SouthernGuy8503
Mar 25, 2009 at 6:27 am

my town isn’t a bad town at all, very rarely do we hear about someone’s house being broke in or someones car being stolen, i actually don’t remember anytime where someones car was stolen, my town has a population of maybe 1,600 or more so its not a little dinky one stoplight town but its not a huge town either, if something happens like that its always in the paper, i don’t really worry about it really but i always keep my truck locked cause when you let your guard down is when something happens

Brett Powers
Mar 25, 2009 at 5:56 am

That picture is HILARIOUS! I live in Iowa man, I leave my key in my car out in front of my house without worrying. In fact I leave my house unlocked at night too.