Two men were arrested early on the morning of May 24 in a Fort Worth suburb after allegedly conducting multiple carjackings in the metropolitan area with two children in tow.
The North Richland Hills Police Department (NRHPD) announced that two men with two children in their company stole a Chevy Tahoe in the Dallas area late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. The department then received a call about a second carjacking at 7:30 a.m. at Loop 820 and Boulevard 26.
A victim told officers that he drove his brown Chevrolet Tahoe into the area to help a member of his family who was having vehicle trouble. Two men in a white Toyota 4-Runner drove up, allegedly attacked the man, and stole his vehicle, police say.
After the two men and two children drove off, they headed west on Interstate 820. Near Marine Creek Parkway, the carjacker who was driving crashed the Tahoe. Police reported that the two men then proceeded to steal a third unknown vehicle and continued moving westward into Parker County.
Department of Public Safety and Eastland County deputies were able to stop the vehicle and arrest the two men. The arresting officers stated that the two children in the backseat were alive and unharmed.
The motives for the crime spree the two men committed are unknown at this time. Also unknown is the relationship between the two children and the two men.
The two men are in police custody and are currently awaiting charges.
The number of automobile thefts in the Dallas Metroplex has increased dramatically of late.
Starting in 2021, the Dallas Police Department began tracking car thefts separately from robberies. Their reports show that 453 auto thefts took place last year, for an average of over one per day, ABC News reports.
The Dallas Express reported last week that there has been a nearly 30% increase in car thefts city-wide this year in a year-to-date analysis.
Professor Christopher Herrmann of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice told CNN that car thefts often lead to different crimes committed by the same thieves.
“The majority of carjackings are young joyriders. They’re not keeping the cars. They’re jacking cars to commit another crime, typically more serious robberies, or shootings, or joyriding around for the sake of social media purpose and street cred. It’s a disturbing trend,” Hermann said.