Henrico Police, prosecutors grappling with 'exponential' rise in car thefts, but are cases getting solved?
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Twenty years ago, Henrico Police had just one property crime detective assigned to car thefts. Now, there are four.
Major Chris Eley, who oversees investigations at the Henrico Police Division, said auto thefts have "grown exponentially" in the county in recent years, especially among Kias and Hyundais after a viral social media trend suggested they were easy vehicles to steal.
The most common age of the suspects, he said: 16 and 17.
“The car has no value to them. It's the ride. It’s what they're after, the time in the car to get to point A to point B. It's almost become their form of transportation," Eley told CBS 6.
“It’s that casual? Like, 'Oh I need to get somewhere -- I’ll just go steal a car,'" reporter Tyler Layne asked.
“Yes, it’s that casual," Eley said.
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