Imagine walking out the door to get in your car as you start the day, only to discover that there are no wheels or tires on your vehicle. That has been the experience of at least 18 automobile owners in Lewisville so far this year.
Lewisville police confirmed that eight such thefts occurred between August 13 and September 1. Of the 18 thefts since January 1, 17 involved Toyota Corollas and Camrys.
Last weekend, Lewisville resident Alicia Smock discovered that all four wheels and tires on her 2015 Chrysler 300 had been stolen overnight. Her vehicle was left propped up on bricks the thieves had carried over from her neighbor’s property.
“We came out here, and there were no wheels and no rims, nothing,” Smock told NBC 5 DFW. “Who does that? Like, why?”
A neighbor’s doorbell camera captured the thieves in action at about 3 a.m. Two or three persons with lights removed the wheels and tires from Smock’s vehicle within five minutes.
“It’s just unbelievable how quickly it was done,” Smock said, per NBC 5.
A similar slew of thefts occurred in Lewisville between April 20 and May 22, leading Lewisville police to arrest Yeferson M. Arenas, 25, for theft in connection with the nine reported incidents.
Rachel Roberts, a public information officer for the Lewisville PD, said the Criminal Investigation Department is following up on several leads in the most recent wave of wheel thefts.
She also offered some tips for automobile owners to hinder would-be thieves.
“Really think about looking into where you’re parking. Are you in a well-lit area? Do you have a garage? Can you park in your garage? If you do park in your garage, can you shut the door? Other options to deter this crime or criminal activity is getting lug nut locks. They’re pretty affordable,” said Roberts, per NBC 5.
“If you are parking street side and not on your own property, try to park with your wheel at a 45-degree angle close to the curb. It makes it very difficult to get a lug nut wrench in there to try to start removing the tires,” she added.
Two years ago, The Dallas Express reported on a similar rash of wheel and tire thefts in the Frisco community, most of which involved Toyota Corollas. One Frisco Corolla owner was targeted by thieves twice within a six-month period. Most of the thefts occurred in apartment complexes, Frisco police said at the time.
In nearby Dallas, the number of motor vehicle parts or accessories thefts has fallen somewhat this year compared to the large numbers of such crimes logged over the last three years, which was fueled in large part by a surge in catalytic converter thefts.
However, according to the City of Dallas crime analytics dashboard, 1,944 motor vehicle parts or accessories thefts have been reported so far this year, so this type of crime is still a major problem for the city.
The Dallas Police Department has been hindered in its crime-fighting efforts by a chronic shortage of police officers, fielding about 3,000 officers despite a City analysis that recommended about 4,000 for a city of Dallas’ size.
The department is working with a relatively small budget of $654 million this fiscal year, considerably less than the budgets of police departments in other high-crime cities, such as Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles.