Car thefts in Pierce County exploded in 2021. Here’s why and how to protect your ride

When Cody Limas moved to Washington last year, it was not a warm welcome. His Jeep was stolen twice in two months.

The 34-year-old hadn’t even moved into his home before thieves targeted him in October, stealing his Jeep Wrangler and the attached U-Haul from a Fife hotel parking lot. He lost all of his and his children’s possessions, including irreplaceable military memorabilia from his time in the U.S. Army.

The 2018 Jeep Wrangler was recovered a week later but again stolen from outside his Tacoma townhouse in December.

Police found the suspected car thief but only issued a citation since the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted booking at Pierce County Jail to mostly those suspected of violent crimes.

The ordeal has cost Limas about $5,000. His family’s personal items from the U-Haul were never recovered.

“It broke my heart when the Jeep was taken but all the personal stuff, all the priceless stuff — you can’t get back all the memories,” Limas said. “It messed me up financially so they could joy ride and go on a crime spree.”

Limas is hardly alone.

Motor vehicle theft has been steadily rising across the state. Last year, it reached the highest level since 2007.

Crime statistics tell an unsettling story. In 2021, auto theft jumped 66 percent in Tacoma. Theft of car parts spiked 83 percent, mostly due to catalytic converters. Motor vehicle theft went up 50 percent in Pierce County. Auto theft increased 17 percent statewide, with Pierce and King counties leading the way.

The number of people arrested for stealing cars was not immediately available, but the number of charges filed in Pierce County for stealing cars or possessing stolen cars more than doubled.

In the last five months of 2021, local law enforcement say car thefts “exploded” by more than 50 percent.

“This change is unprecedented and leads to the highest (annual) number of stolen cars in Washington since WATPA started work in 2007,” according to the annual report for Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority.

The agency says 31,032 vehicles were stolen across the state last year, compared to 26,520 in 2020.

It’s a problem that’s been getting worse for about two years in many states.

“Auto thefts saw a dramatic increase in 2020 versus 2019 in part due to the pandemic, an economic downturn, law enforcement realignment, depleted social and schooling programs, and, in still too many cases, owner complacency,” said David Glawe, president and CEO of the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

There were 880,595 cars stolen nationwide in 2020, up from 794,019 the year before. That means a vehicle was stolen every 36 seconds.

Data for 2021 has not yet been released.

The agency ranked Washington No. 8 for having the worst auto-theft rate (number of vehicles stolen per 100,000 residents). California, Texas and Florida top the list, accounting for 37 percent of all car thefts across the country.

Owner complacency is a factor contributing to auto theft that can be controlled, experts say. Too many people leave their keys or car fobs in the vehicle, or let the engine warm up unattended on cold mornings.

There were 84,131 vehicles stolen with the keys inside in 2019, a sizable increase from the 82,369 in 2018, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Why is car theft so high?

Local law enforcement officials think new legislation on policing is partially to blame for Pierce County’s spike in car thefts.

House Bill 1054, which was signed into law in May by Gov. Jay Inslee, bans police from using chokeholds, neck restraints, no-knock warrants and some military gear, like tear gas. It also says officers and deputies can engage in pursuits only if there is probable cause to arrest somebody for a serious crime like murder, rape or drive-by shooting. Probable cause is a higher standard of proof than reasonable suspicion, which is what they used before the new law.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mary Robnett said she has no doubt the new rules are limiting police pursuits and contributing to the rise in car thefts.

“It’s much harder for police to identify a suspect if reasonable suspicion isn’t enough to detain someone while they investigate. And even if there is probable cause, the people stealing these cars likely know the police can’t pursue them,” Robnett told The News Tribune. “Both of those factors mean a lower percentage of these cases will ever have an identified suspect. It also means fewer car thieves will be held accountable.”

Although Robnett’s office last year filed more criminal charges related to stolen vehicles than in recent years, prosecutors said the charging numbers would be higher if police were able to freely do their jobs and have been lobbying legislators to amend the law.

In 2021, Pierce County prosecutors charged 726 counts of theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. That’s a 52 percent jump from 2020 when 348 counts were filed for those crimes.

In the last seven years, only 2016 came close to the last year’s numbers when 632 counts related to stealing a car or possessing a stolen car were filed.

The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force also believes the new laws are to blame for the increase in crime.

“Auto theft is a huge problem right now in WA, especially in Pierce County,” the agency tweeted in January. “The latest LE (law enforcement) reform bills and jail booking restrictions have made enforcing auto theft crimes difficult.”

In December alone, 915 vehicles were stolen in Pierce County, the task force said. That’s a huge jump from the 435 stolen in December 2020.

Car thieves also have started targeting car dealerships. In February, a Frederickson auto dealer had 19 vehicles taken from its lot. All but one have been recovered.

Pierce County sheriff’s Sgt. Darren Moss said it’s usually the same people stealing the vast majority of cars. They’re arrested and released because of jail booking restrictions, and deputies say they pick them up within a day or two in another stolen vehicle.

Auto theft spiked at the end of year “after the criminals started figuring out we couldn’t chase them,” Moss said. “It’s frustrating when you put restrictions on the laws and what we’re allowed to do. People don’t steal cars to drive from Point A to Point B. They use them to commit other crimes and sometimes those crimes are violent.”

Uptick in car thefts began in 2020

Although car thefts soared last year, they began rising in 2020 around the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

In Tacoma, there were 2,169 vehicles stolen in 2020, according to FBI data. That’s up from 1,699 in 2019. Pierce County didn’t see as big of an increase going from 1,095 in 2019 to 1,145 in 2020.

Tacoma police recovered 1,132 stolen cars valued at $5,301,385 in 2020. Pierce County deputies recovered 635 stolen vehicles that same year.

Some recovered cars are so badly scrapped or damaged that they are considered a total loss. Other times, owners like Limas and Shane Johns choose to pay for the damages and keep the vehicle.

Johns is the head brewer at E9 Brewing Co. and spent six weeks waiting for repairs to be completed on a delivery van stolen from in front of the Tacoma business in November.

“It actually took longer to get the parts in and get it fixed than the van was gone for,” he said. “It impacted our ability to deliver product and be selling at the same time.”

He thinks the car thieves did surveillance on the brewery before stealing one of four vans because they were able to elude two security cameras out front. They took the van about 4 a.m. from its parking spot in front of E9.

Eight minutes later, the delivery van was used to burglarize a construction site. Ten days after that, the van was found stripped and abandoned in Auburn. The thieves had stripped off the company’s stickers, taken the catalytic converter and seriously damaged the interior and electrical system.

Robnett, the prosecuting attorney, said those types of situations are making Pierce County residents feel unsafe.

“Auto theft may be ‘low-level’ crime, but don’t tell that to someone who has just had their car stolen,” she said. “It’s an economic hit but also a huge disruption to their lives. This issue is contributing to the growing sense of lawlessness out there.”

Tips to prevent auto theft:

▪ Always lock your doors, remove your keys from the ignition, close your windows completely and park in well-lit areas.

▪ Use an audible or visible device to warn potential thieves that your vehicle is equipped with an alarm.

▪ Install a vehicle immobilizer like smart keys, fuse cut-offs, kill switches or ignition disablers.

▪ Invest in a tracking system.

Source: National Insurance Crime Bureau