WATCH LIVE
“This truck doesn’t matter what happens,” one guy said after his GMC pickup truck, which he had only owned for a few months, was stolen straight from the parking lot of his paintings.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — At least 40 are stolen every day in the city of Houston, according to Houston Police Department Sgt. Tracy Hicks.
Hicks says more than anything, Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups are stolen.
RELATED: Houston police warn of car theft at IAH, but say initiatives to reduce it are working
According to HPD statistics, 1,253 Silverado pickups were stolen from January 2022 to June 2022, followed by 540 Saws and 315 Ford F-150s.
“I tell you from the bottom of my heart, if you have a GMC or Chevy pickup, you have to do more. You can’t just cross your fingers. We’ve gone beyond that,” Hicks said.
He drives a GMC pickup truck himself.
Hicks said thieves know how to steal 2017 through 2021 Chevy and GMC models and can do it without breaking glass.
“They can borrow them in minutes. Literally two or three minutes at most,” he said.
Includes GMC Yukon, Chevy Tahoe, Suburban and Cadillac Escalades among the groups.
“I can take the engines, especially any of the ’17 to ’21, and put them in anything,” Hicks said. “The fenders, the rear doors, the parts can be used in any vehicle. “
He said portions are valuable because there are so many of those cars on the road.
Statistics show that in the first six months of 2022, 185 Tahoe SUVs, at least 46 Yukon SUVs and at least 28 Suburban SUVs were stolen in the city.
RELATED: Video Shows Thieves Using Crane to Steal Vans
“If you have a GMC pickup, or any Chevrolet pickup, in the greater Houston area, that pickup is rarely very important,” said Jeremy Olivarez, a victim of a car theft.
Olivarez only had his GMC Sierra pickup truck for five months when it was stolen from the secure parking lot of his job in Tanglewood.
He said he won an ad from OnStar informing him that his truck had been stolen and a minute later, when he got to the garage, he wasn’t there.
“Going outside (and) seeing that your vehicle isn’t where you parked it is very annoying,” Olivarez said. “Your day, week, month, even your year is going badly. That’s a lot of cash you’re losing. “
He said the thieves disabled his OnStar, so the truck could not be located.
Olivarez called police, but his truck never noticed again.
“They said it’s a very common scenario and you’re not the first and probably not the last,” he recalls.
Hicks declined to disclose the approach the thieves used to borrow the trucks, but said a mechanic would be aware of it and could devise express tactics for his vehicle from the vulnerability of that specific scheme.
RELATED: Areas of Houston Where Thieves Steal Most Car and Truck Parts
“We want to take a look at the alarm update,” Hicks said. Overlay the technique and use more than one. “
He said the chances of getting his car back depended on what the thieves did with it. Hicks said they don’t borrow those new car models to commit crimes. Instead, they sell them in some cases.
“You’re going to record it and that’s when you locate it,” Hicks said. “Then you realize you’ve lost all the money you paid. “
He advised that if you buy a used car, check that the physical key works to open the door or back door. He said that even if there is a key ring, use the steel key. This is a way to check if the key fob has been reprogrammed and you are buying a stolen vehicle.
Hicks said his most productive chance of recovering his stolen car is if it’s stolen.
In cases, thieves break cars in search of parts. Currently, in the HPD kennel where cars involved in stolen cars or cars are taken, there is the chassis of a Escalade and the hull of a truck. Both are unrecognizable.
Hicks said they place those dismantled cars in barns or fields.
“If you have a GMC or Chevy product, I tell you right away it’s a matter of time,” Hicks said.
To learn more about this story, stay with Mycah Hatfield on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Man beaten with $5,000 rent bill after being kidnapped on vacation
Latin pop band RBD hosts “Soy Rebelde” tour in Houston in August
Catching a hit-and-run thief is rarely worth much, says jeweler