Police, prosecutors grappling with ‘exponential’ rise in car thefts, but are cases getting solved?

By Tyler Layne

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    HENRICO COUNTY, Virginia (WTVR) — Car thefts are increasing in significant numbers across the country, and law enforcement agencies in Central Virginia have been overwhelmed by the rise in caseloads.

In the City of Richmond, there were more than 2,500 stolen cars in 2022 and 2023, but data as of March showed that just 20 out of about 350 related charges resulted in convictions in court. An additional 100 charges were still pending.

“All anybody wants to know is that the authorities are trying, that they’re out there doing their best. We don’t want to be left feeling like we’ve been dismissed,” Nancye Hunter told CBS 6 after her car was stolen.

Hunter’s Kia was stolen from her Richmond apartment in December 2023. Just eight hours after it was finally recovered and back in her possession, someone had broken into it again.

Police did not make arrests in either case.

“They need to do something to make this stop. It’s not fair to the residents of Richmond,” Hunter said.

And the issue isn’t unique to the city.

Henrico’s car theft problem

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 Kia’s and Hyundai’s 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.

Henrico Police reported 1,183 stolen cars in 2022 and 2023.

As of May 2024, police made 127 arrests.

While that looks like a 10% clearance rate, keep in mind that one suspect can be linked to stealing more than one car.

“Would you consider that a successful arrest rate?” Layne asked.

“We’d like to see more always, but there’s several factors that kind of limit our ability to do it,” Eley answered.

A detective’s top priority is recovering the vehicle, which Henrico Police were able to do in 69% of cases last year.

But many times, police find a stolen car parked without a driver inside, and if they do catch someone actively on the road, Eley said the driver usually doesn’t just pull over.

“30% of our pursuits are from stolen cars, and we don’t want a 16 or 17-year-old driving fast, running from us, and creating a public danger,” Eley said.

Prosecuting car theft cases

If an arrest is made, it’s up to Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor’s office to determine what comes next, but she admits these can be tough cases to prosecute due to a lack of evidence.

“I think that’s telling just from the numbers. When you have 500 stolen cars in any given year and you’re only making 50 arrests, there is a correlation regarding evidence,” Taylor said. “Even when we’re talking about fingerprints and we’re talking about DNA when we are looking at that sort of forensic evidence, we have to have something to compare it to. So unless you’re in the DNA data bank or you have been processed and you have your fingerprints in the national network, it can be very difficult.”

According to data from Taylor’s office, prosecutors were dealt 383 related car theft charges over the last two years.

165 were nolle-prossed or dismissed for a variety of reasons including evidentiary issues, a negotiation that was made, different charges involving the same suspect that may have gone forward, and so forth.

159 felony charges pertained to grand larceny cases.

Of those charges, 50 involved juveniles, in which Taylor said the court is focused on rehabilitation.

“And perhaps we’re giving this young person an opportunity to engage in community service, payment of restitution, and keeping good behavior for a period of time that perhaps that charge would be dismissed,” Taylor said.

Oftentimes, Taylor said the court intervenes with diversion programs for juveniles before a charge reaches her office. In those situations, she said her office wouldn’t even become engaged in the prosecutorial process.

Repeat juvenile offenders

But something both Taylor and Eley began grappling with was repeat juvenile offenders.

“This was an issue that was being brought to our attention and we were all talking about this,” Taylor said.

“We see it all the time,” Eley said.

The Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice took notice, and last year, it issued a directive mandating that all minors charged with grand larceny or eluding police be held in detention upon initial arrest.

Director Amy Floriano wrote in her directive that those crimes were “on the rise” in Virginia and “associated with gang-related activity and violent crime.”

She continued that grand larcenies have “collateral consequences” because attempted stops turn to chases which put the public at risk.

“They just couldn’t turn their eye away from that very dangerous behavior,” Taylor said about the directive. “Having the child held just that moment in time to find out if we can find, guardians, find parents, find out what’s going on.”

43 convictions

Taylor said that not all cases involve a “juvenile joyride situation.”

She’s prosecuted charges recently that were part of a “more nefarious criminal ring” in which car dealerships have been targeted.

Of the grand larceny cases in Henrico involving adult defendants, 43 charges are still pending and another 43 have resulted in a conviction. 56 were dismissed or nolle-prossed.

“Are you finding that you are having success convicting charges that are brought to your office?” Layne asked.

“Absolutely, yes,” Taylor responded.

Major Eley said he wished the police department was tracking more suspects down, because “the higher your arrest rate, the probably more likely you can deter it occurring.”

“What does that mean for the rest of the cases that aren’t getting cleared? Does that essentially mean that people are getting away with stealing cars and could just basically go out and do it again?” Layne asked.

“We’d like to see a successful resolution every case, but sometimes there’s not enough evidence for us to take it forward. Or sometimes we get victims who say, ‘Hey, I don’t want to go forward anymore,'” Eley said.

Recently, the department doubled the number of property crime detectives working auto thefts. They’re each getting about ten cases per month.

The department is also increasing technology including license plate readers in an effort to locate stolen cars.

Eley said he believes the department’s prevention efforts are making a difference as there’s been an 11% decrease in the number of stolen cars this quarter compared to the same time quarter last year.

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