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Salt Lake Valley auto theft has ‘skyrocketed,’ police say

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SALT LAKE CITY – Law enforcement says auto theft is skyrocketing along the Salt Lake Valley.

Detectives say there are two reasons. Folks are leaving their keys and fabs in their cars, and they’re leaving their vehicles running while going into a convenience store.

Salt Lake City is seeing a 73.9 percent increase in vehicle theft.

Diving deeper into the numbers ABC4 News found almost every district is seeing a spike.

District Auto Theft Percentage Increase
District 1: 71.4%
District 2: 112%
District 3 231%
District 4 121%
District 5: 36%
District 6 28%
District 7 -34%

Det. Ruff adds, “We certainly have seen an increase in those newer cars. Especially with those key fabs, that is something that has really skyrocketed in the last little bit.”

OFFENSE MARCH 2019-2020 MARCH 2020-2021
LARC-FROM VEHICLE/PROWL 2341 2995

“It’s widespread and I think it is important that the public knows that. It’s not specific to a part of town or even in the county,” says Sgt. Melody Cutler with Unified Police Department.

Sgt. Cutler says people have a false belief about modern cars with push-button start systems.

“The fallacy of the belief that if you start your car and the key fab is not in it when that car drives away that car will turn off, that is not true. Many of those cars will continue to run. So someone just has to get in that car and it’s theirs,” she says.

Stolen cars aren’t the only problem law enforcement is seeing.

“We kind of see that uptick in people cutting catalytic converters to steal them to sell the metals,” says Det. Ruff.

Sgt Cutler says sometimes the thieves are brazen, “A large amount of stolen catalytic converters [stolen], like right out of somebody’s driveway. People get in there and cut those out. The materials, the metals in there are worth a lot of money so that’s the reason behind those thefts.”

OFFENSE MARCH 2019-2020 MARCH 2020-2021
LARC-PARTS FROM VEHICLE/STRIP 410 669

There are three things law enforcement says improves your chances of keeping your vehicle safe.

  • Park your car in a well-lit area
  • Install surveillance cameras
  • Don’t leave things in your vehicle

Officers say they can recover many of the vehicles that are stolen.

If you see someone acting suspiciously around a vehicle, give them a call to check things out.

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