Thieves stole 35 vehicles between 1 May and 21 July, but police managed to track down and recover 33 of those, the RCIPS has confirmed.
Speaking on Compass TV’s Daybreak on Wednesday, 22 July, Detective Sergeant Damian Riley from the Criminal Investigations Department said, in response to a recent upsurge in stolen vehicles, police had ramped up their resources to investigate the thefts.
Many of the vehicles have been recovered thanks to information supplied by members of the public, Riley said.
The majority of cars stolen were Honda models, often Civics or CR-Vs, that dated from the late 1990s to early 2000s.
While vehicles have been stolen all over Grand Cayman, most have been found at three locations, Riley said.
“We recovered most of the vehicles in the Windsor Park area [of George Town], the Lookout Gardens area of Bodden Town, and Agricola Drive. Predominantly, when cars are stolen, it seems that they are taken to these particular locations,” he said.
Based on investigations, Riley explained, it appears the vehicles are being scrapped for parts, although in some instances they are being modified “to elude the police from recovering them”.
He added, “In some cases, they are used in the commission of serious crimes.”
Acknowledging that recovering the 33 vehicles has been done with the assistance of the public, Riley urged anyone who notices something suspicious in their neighbourhood to contact the RCIPS.
He advised members of the public to be on the lookout for makeshift garages or mechanic shops, or vehicles being scrapped, or activities involving vehicles in the middle of the night.
He also advised anyone whose car is stolen to report it to police immediately. “The earlier the police investigation starts, the more likely we will recover these vehicles,” he said.
A number of suspects have been arrested in connection with the thefts, including a male juvenile who has been charged with five counts of theft related to a string of vehicle thefts in the George Town area since February.
Riley advised anyone buying a vehicle to check documentation of ownership and to buy parts from licensed dealerships. “Don’t purchase vehicle parts from persons on the black market, or go to a person’s house to do these types of transactions,” he said.
He also urged car owners to take measures to secure their vehicles, by ensuring they are locked and that car key fobs are stored away from their home’s doors and windows or kept in pouches to block their signals. “With advances in technology, people can transfer a signal from one device to another to unlock your vehicle, so stow it away,” he said.
The use of visible deterrent mechanisms, such as steering wheel locks, car wheel locks and CCTVs, can also dissuade thieves from trying to steal a vehicle, he noted.
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