Friday, March 30, 2018

Heads Up, Overnight Tire Thieves Targeting Local Vehicles

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Chevy Silverado missing its tires. Photo courtesy of Twitter user @1F525 

Twitter user Blaise (@1F525) tweeted photos yesterday of this Chevy Silverado with a broken window and four missing tires that appear to have been stolen (the lug nuts can be seen lying on the ground). The vehicle is parked in the 1100 block of K Street NE. I haven't seen much tire theft in my years here, but responses on Twitter indicate that this is not an isolated incident. Kingman Park Kaleidoscope (@KPKinDC) tweeted that this has been happening in River Terrace too. The thieves in River Terrace are reportedly using a white Ford F150 truck and a van to target Toyota and Nissan vehicles. The thieves take all four tires and seem to operate between 2am and 5am. Police reportedly suggested that drivers park with tires "tight to the curb" and "cars close together." I've since received word that a vehicle was spotted on Levis yesterday up on cinder blocks with all four tires removed, suggesting another possible instance of this sort of theft. Further, I'm told two Jeeps at 10th & Massachusetts Avenue NE each had two tires stolen.



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Chevy Silverado missing its tires. Photo courtesy of Twitter user @1F525 

1 comment:

Poo said...

FYI, someone from my work told me that in her experience when a rash of this kind of burglary was happening in her neighborhood, insurance would only cover cars that had all four tires stolen. So if a car only had two or three wheels stolen (for whatever reason - perhaps the thieves got scared off before finishing the job), the victims were actually removing the remaining tire before calling it in. Not sure about the veracity, but that was her stated experience. I know, it sounds goofy to me too. But then, I’m not surprised by much anymore.