The Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety is urging vehicle owners to take extra steps to avoid having their cars stolen. Speaking on social media this past week, Director Dan McGinnis said there were 13 vehicles stolen in the city in June.
“We have been having a proliferation of stolen vehicles,” McGinnis said. “We also kind of know who’s doing it. We’ve caught a couple different groups of kids several times, and one of the issues we have is we’ve got to let them go.”
Department Deputy Director Mike Clark said the juvenile center won’t take even repeat offenders.
“They only have so many beds and their staffing is low as well, and so, unfortunately unless these kids are caught with a gun, they’re not getting taken,” Clark said. “We’ve caught some of these kids two, three, four times in the same stolen cars, and it can be frustrating.”
Most of the suspects are juveniles. Clark said they sometimes will steal a car just to drive somewhere and then ditch it. He noted the most commonly stolen cars are some Hyundai and Kia models due to an engineering flaw that makes them easy to start without a key. He urged owners of those vehicles to get an anti theft device, like a club for the steering wheel. McGinnis asked people to call police if they notice an unfamiliar vehicle sitting in an alley by their home, especially if it has a tarp on it.
