VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.- An alert from a biology teacher led police to a car thief suspect in Virginia Beach, according to a search warrant.
Virginia Beach Police said they have seen an uptick in motor vehicle thefts in the city and region as a whole. They said they are continuing to monitor the city as a whole for any specific trends.
News 3 spoke to a woman who said she has called in cars recently that were left abandoned on her street. She said they turned out to be stolen.
“Recently, I’ve just been seeing cars, they pull up in the court, they park and they just leave them,” said the woman we are not identifying for safety reasons.
She said one night a while ago she called the police when she saw young men breaking into her brother’s car.
She said they weren't successful in stealing the car but took stuff from inside.
Back in May police were called to the 3000 block of Capital Hill Lane for a hit and run. They found that one of the cars involved was stolen during the investigation police located two other stolen cars less than a mile away at the Green Lake Apartments.
The search warrant revealed that police stated that “this area is a common dumping ground for stolen vehicles.”
It states that inside one of the cars, a phone with a “Gmail notification” from a Green Run High School Biology teacher, and this information led police to a juvenile suspect.
The increase in car thefts has made people worried.
“I am concerned. I’m very concerned,” said Karen Miller, “This is my livelihood, how I get to and from work. If someone were to steal it, I would be out.”
“It is kind of crazy to know if you are stealing cars,” said Darrell Wood, a local resident.
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, there were over 936,000 cars stolen in 2021, which they say is a 17% increase from 2019.
They say, unfortunately, 2022 is not looking much better. In the first three months this year, nearly a quarter million vehicle thefts were reported.
They say thefts can lead to insurance premium hikes - making everyone a victim.
“I think it’s really sad because people work all day to make money to take care of their family and then you got people who walk around, who don’t work but they come and take what you’ve worked for. I think it’s really bad,” said the unidentifiable woman.
