JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With the prices surging across the country, vehicles are becoming more attractive to thieves.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is reporting a big jump in vehicle thefts as the pandemic tapers off -- and last year, there was a nearly 10% increase in vehicle thefts when compared to 2019.
It was the most stolen cars recorded in a single year in more than a decade, according to the NICB.
That same agency says the post-pandemic demand for cars is making the trend even worse.
News4Jax spoke to one local woman who experienced the problem first hand.
“So with me having a new vehicle just bought a vehicle, I was excited to drive it around and I guess I was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Kristy Cox.
Cox said she had stopped at a downtown Jacksonville gas station in late March. She went inside but accidentally left her keys in her SUV. When she returned, it was gone.
“My hopes were gone,” Cox said. “I didn’t think I would ever retrieve my car and I was hoping that I could at least find it on the highway or abandoned or somewhere.”
Astonishingly, it wouldn’t be the last time she saw her new wheels. She spotted the SUV weeks later on the Westside.
“I saw a car that looks just like mine,” she said. “So I was like, ‘okay, let me follow it. Let me see if they had the same license plate.’ Sure enough, it had my license plate and everything.”
Cox called the police and eventually got her vehicle back, but she’s far from the only one to forget her keys.
The NICB reports about 11% of car thefts in 2019 involved keys being left in the vehicle.
Locally, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reported more than 40 vehicle thefts in the last week.
News4jax crime and safety expert reminds drivers that they can take a few steps to prevent this from happening to them.
- Take your keys out of the car and keep them with you anytime you leave the car alone, even if you have a remote key fob
- Always lock your doors and roll up those windows
- Watch where you park and try to pick a well-lit area when you can
- Don’t leave any valuables in your car, particularly in plain sight. That includes your garage door opener
- It’s a good idea to keep a photo of your registration on your phone rather than just keeping the document in the car
- Check out some available features or equipment like car alarms, kill switches and GPS trackers as an extra level of security
If there’s a car you’re thinking about buying you can also check its VIN number against the NICB’s online database of stolen vehicles.