BALTIMORE — Car thefts are on the rise all over the country, and especially in Baltimore City.
Baltimore Police received 4,016 reports of auto theft or attempted theft since the start of the year through July 1, compared to 1,516 reports the same time last year.
Stacie Forrest is a recent victim of this property crime. Home surveillance video shows two people breaking into her Hyundai on June 28 and attempting to steal it. The incident happened around noon, a few steps outside of her front door when she was working from home.
“I got off my call at that time and was coming out at like 12:01 p.m. so I just missed them,” said Forrest.
WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii first met with Forrest last October, when her Ring camera had been yanked off her door frame, along with dozens of others in the Patterson Park neighborhood. Now, it’s her car that’s going to cost her a lot more to repair.
READ MORE: Thieves are targeting video doorbells; nearly 30 reports in the last month
“About 30 people on Nextdoor reached out to me directly to tell me that their car had been stolen recently and this is all within the last month, month and a half,” Forrest said.
Auto thefts including attempts are up a staggering 165 percent.
And while incidents are up, arrests aren't. According to the Public Safety Accountability Dashboard, there have been 186 arrests as of July 2 compared to 214 arrests for the same time period last year.
So far, there haven’t been any convictions this year, and of the 397 total arrests last year, 7 people were found guilty.
“I think that what is happening is that they know the police are not going to do anything,” said Forrest.
Forrest acknowledged that she was convicted of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle in 2013. She did not receive any jail time and was sentenced to 5 years probation. She said she's worked hard to turn her life around and to buy her home in Baltimore, but now she's considering leaving.
“My house is actually going up for sale this month. I'm going to be the fourth house in this block in the last two months whose houses are going up for sale,” Forrest shared.
Sofastaii asked Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott about the surge in car thefts and property crime.
“This is something that we are taking very seriously to the point where we’re actually suing companies,” Mayor Scott responded.
The City of Baltimore recently joined several other cities in suing Hyundai and Kia for a defect that makes some cars more susceptible to theft. The two car models make up roughly 41 percent of all stolen autos since May 2023. However, property crime overall has increased 37 percent year-over-year.
“It’s about the quality of the arrests and, of course, once we make the arrests, the dispositions are beyond our control. We know, I bring this up and I’ll say it loud and very clearly right now, we have an issue with folks being released that shouldn’t be released,” said Scott.
Forrest believes a lack leadership is exacerbating the problem.
“If a friend came to you and said, you know, I was looking at moving into the city,” Sofastaii asked Forrest.
“Don't do it. Don't do it,” Forrest retorted. “No, no, save your money and go someplace else where there's, you know, where you're going to have a better ratio of safety, your insurance is not going to go up, you're not going to have to worry about paying high taxes. No, don't do it. Please don't.”
“When you go out to a county, you go out to another city and it happens to you, where are you going to run? You cannot escape this issue. We have challenges in our city. We are working towards those challenges each and every day but what we have to do is also acknowledge that progress is being made and we should be talking about how we’re seeing significant reductions in violent crime in the City of Baltimore in addition to highlighting concerns like this,” said Scott.
Police data also shows that homicides are down 22 percent year-over-year with a 12 percent decrease in non-fatal shootings.
Baltimore Police confirmed that an officer met with Forrest the day of the incident at around 7 p.m. and the investigation is open and ongoing.
In addition, WMAR-2 News contacted Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates' office about the ratio of arrests to guilty dispositions in auto thefts. His office hasn’t yet responded.
Hyundai and Kia drivers are strongly urged to install the free security software update. Free steering wheel locks for impacted cars are also available at local police districts. To see if your vehicle is eligible for the free updates, contact Hyundai at 1-800-633-5151 or Kia at 1-800-333-4542.
July is National Vehicle Theft Prevention Month. According to Maryland State Police, a car is stolen every 47 minutes in Maryland. MSP recommends drivers take steps to keep their vehicle and belongings safe, including:
- Utilizing an anti-theft device
- Parking in well-lit areas
- Closing and locking all windows and doors when you park
- Putting away your valuables
- Do not leave your keys in your vehicle
- Do not leave the area while your vehicle is running
