Somebody is stealing wheels off cars in Frisco, and the police department is trying to find the culprits.
Frisco PD confirmed officers are investigating six reported cases of wheel theft, just from this year, WFAA reported. The department said the most recent cases involved Toyota Corollas.
One such Corolla owner is Alan Castro. He told WFAA he was excited to buy his first brand new car: a 2022 Toyota Corolla. Castro special-ordered the car when he lived in El Paso. When he moved to Frisco, he was excited about the prospect of long trips in his new car.
Recently, though, he has been a repeat target of those wheel thieves.
“I was like, ‘Damn, again?’ It happened again,” Castro told WFAA. “The first time, it was on cinder blocks, and the second time it was on jacks.”
Both incidents happened in his apartment complex parking garage and were separated by a little over six months. The first theft occurred in December 2021, and the latest at the start of this July.
Castro posted to social media about the attacks and said nine people have responded to the post, sharing similar stories. He is confident there are more than just the six cases the police department confirmed.
“They can get a set of wheels and tires off a vehicle in 5 to 10 minutes with the right equipment,” Shawn Massoudi, with A-1 Rylie Auto Parts in South Dallas, said.
Massoudi cited inflation and backorder as motivation for thieves. He told WFAA his yard only deals with auctions, dealerships, and wholesalers for those reasons.
He believes he can tell right away when he is dealing with someone who is not reputable.
“They only want to get paid in cash. They’re selling a Corolla wheel worth $120 for $20; these are all those tells,” said Massoudi.
Castro finds the timing of the attacks curious, he told WFAA, as both incidents occurred just after he had gotten his car back from being serviced at a Plano service shop. He alerted Frisco police of the coincidence and added that another victim who reached out to him over social media had just retrieved their car from the same Plano service location.
“It sucks when you’re working hard to get something better for you, and all of sudden, someone comes and takes it,” said Castro.
Police said most of the attacks they are investigating occurred in parking garages. The department suggests using wheel locks and parking in well-lit areas as deterrents.