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Police in Brooklyn Park say car thefts this year are trending near an all-time high.
“We hit our all-time record last year,” said Inspector Elliot Faust with the Brooklyn Park Police Department. “The year’s not over yet but I think we’re going to be close to that number.”
This comes after police tried to catch suspects involved in two car chases this weekend.
Brooklyn Park police say that around 2:42 a.m. on Dec. 16, they spotted a suspicious vehicle leaving the Kensington Place Apartments at 8302 Zane Ave. N.
The vehicle fled the scene as officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle. The occupants fled down Zane onto 85th Avenue, but later made a U-turn and headed back toward the apartment complex.
Police say they crashed the stolen vehicle into a retaining boulder near the entrance of the complex. Five people ran from the crashed vehicle and escaped.
NEW TOOLS FOR STOLEN VEHICLE INCIDENTS
In a separate incident, police spotted a stolen vehicle at around 12:41 a.m. on Dec. 18. When officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle fled the scene.
Officers ended the pursuit as the suspect began traveling at a high rate of speed.
“That’s not an ideal way to make a recovery of a stolen vehicle because it adds an obvious danger to the community,” Faust said of the recent car chases. “We’re not necessarily seeing an uptick in motor vehicle fleeing situations — it’s just high all around … We’re not seeing it slow down at all.”
Meanwhile, Faust said he expects new drones and K-9 units to help track suspects in future car thefts.
“We were kind of in a period where we were lacking some tools to track suspects in cases like that.Tthose tools are starting to come online so I think we’re going to have a lot more successes as that rolls out,” Faust said.
Kia and Hyundai vehicles are most commonly targeted for theft. Faust recommended drivers use a wheel lock to deter theft of these vehicles.
SOURCE: CCX MEDIA
