Police searching a stolen vehicle in River Oaks on Friday found the key fobs to another 16 cars.
They are now asking the public to come forward if they recently had their vehicle stolen.
Cinthia Mendez told WFAA she left the keys to her car inside the vehicle overnight last week. When she returned the following day, August 11, the car was gone.
She called the police and then went to the dealership where she purchased the car, which was able to track the vehicle through its GPS tracking system.
The dealership located the car at a hotel along Jacksboro Highway, and Mendez drove her husband’s truck to see if it was there and keep an eye on it.
“I’m just going to get close to the scene and call [the police] again and see if they’re like around,” Mendez said. “I told [the police] they’re there. They’re putting stuff in the car. They’re gonna leave.”
Police arriving at the scene allegedly saw 18-year-old Christian Espelata exit Mendez’s stolen car, according to a social media post from the Lake Worth Police Department. He purportedly ran to a nearby hotel room when he saw them.
When Espelata was taken into custody, he was allegedly in possession of a loaded weapon, which police say was stolen.
Mendez’s car was a mess inside with minor damage, and the license plate had been replaced with a stolen one.
“Criminals do that to avoid detection with license plate readers, officers on patrol,” Lake Worth Police Chief J.T. Manoushagian said, per WFAA. “It’s a pretty common occurrence with stolen vehicles.”
Police found a backpack on the backseat of Mendez’s vehicle. Inside that backpack, they found 16 car fobs, many of which had personalized lanyards and keys to homes, police said.
Espelata has been charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle, evading arrest, unlawful carrying of a weapon, and theft of a firearm.
In nearby Dallas, 11,161 auto thefts have been reported year to date as of August 14. This is up 35% from the same period last year when there were 8,270 auto thefts.
Complicating this issue is the fact that the Dallas Police Department is severely understaffed. An analysis completed in 2015 determined that a city the size of Dallas needs roughly 4,000 police officers, but DPD currently only employs around 3,100.
Neighboring Fort Worth has seen success in reducing crime by instituting a dedicated downtown police force that works alongside private security. In fact, car thefts occurred approximately 46 times more often in Dallas than in Fort Worth.