Car thefts rising in Philadelphia. A dive into the numbers
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The number of stolen vehicles in Philadelphia is surging. It's even higher than last year when there was also a huge spike, according to data obtained from the Philadelphia Police Department.
Vehicle thefts are keeping officers busy. On average, Philadelphia police are called to about 36 stolen vehicles every day, which is almost twice as many from about four years ago.
"I want my car back bad," Jaysun Carroll, a sophomore at Temple University, said.
Security video appears to show the moments a dark-colored SUV pulls up next to a white Kia Sedan at 15th and Jefferson Streets in North Philadelphia in the early morning of Dec. 14.
Someone appears to smash into a back window, climb inside the car and then drive off.
"I was shocked," Carroll said. "I couldn't believe that my car actually got stolen the day I was about to leave."
Carroll says he had packed up the car the day before heading home to Virginia for winter break.
It had almost all of his belongings -- shoes, clothes, books and more -- ready to leave his off-campus apartment the next day for winter break, but when he walked outside to leave in the morning, his car was gone.
Carroll's mother then had to make the five-hour drive to pick him up.
"It's unsettling that you work hard for your things and someone comes along and steals it," Barbie Brown, Carroll's mom, said.
Data uncovered by CBS Philadelphia shows more than 12,700 stolen vehicles were reported to police in Philadelphia so far this year. Those numbers are nearly twice as many stolen vehicles during the same time period in 2019.
"It's crazy to see that it happens," Carroll said.
A CBS Philadelphia analysis of the most stolen vehicles by make in Philadelphia in 2022 shows Kia ranks fifth, followed by Hyundai, Honda and Ford. Chevrolet is the most stolen vehicle in the city by make.
Philadelphia police found Carroll's car about two miles away from where it was stolen.
Officers located it after using a tracking device that was in the car.
All of his belongings, however, were missing from the car. There is an online fundraiser set up to help him.
