Car Stealing Plagues May Pen, Clarendon

Car stealing -Reports of car theft are ramping up in Clarendon with close to two dozen vehicles stolen in the last few months.

The Clarendon police say as the reports increase they are already clamping down on those behind the wheels of the car-stealing ring. Persons have gone to May Pen, Clarendon with their vehicles to conduct business but ended up being a victim of a car-stealing criminal network.

More than 18 vehicles have been stolen in May Pen, Clarendon  during the last six months.

Superintendent Christopher Phillips says, a team of investigators from the Clarendon police has recovered some of the stolen vehicles in the Dawkins Hill Community in James Hill up in Northern Clarendon… Four men were arrested.

Phillips says though the incidents are not specific to a particular area.

The hot spots are: Bargain Village, Young’s Plaza, Council Street, by the tax office and the shoppers’ fair area. Bargain Village especially because of the large number of cars parked in the plaza.

CVM Live spoke to two women whose cars were stolen in October- one of them explains that her vehicle was parked close to the entrance of the department store. Within minutes of leaving her vehicle, it was gone. But as the superintendent explains… It’s not a one-person job, but a coordinated effort.

He explains that the perpetrators sometimes bump into vehicles to see if an alarm will go off. If not they proceed to steel the vehicle. Phillips says that alarms are not enough to safeguard the vehicles in all cases.

As the Christmas season approaches, the police want business operations to join in to ramp up security throughout the town. Part two of this report will focus on how these carjackers are able to move the vehicle within minutes and how persons can safeguard their unattended vehicles.