Surge In Vehicle Thefts Prompts Sheriff To Issue Reminder To Lock Car Doors

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Following a surge in car thefts throughout the state, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister has issued a public service announcement reminding residents to lock their vehicles.

According to data obtained by the National Insurance Crime Bureau and analyzed by vehicle history check platform, CarVertical, Florida has the seventh-highest rate of vehicle thefts in the nation with five out of every 1,000 registered vehicles stolen.

Out of 7,853,979 registered vehicles in Florida, 45,973 were stolen last year. Statistica said that roughly equates to one in every 200 vehicles stolen.

Colorado leads the country in the number of stolen vehicles with 28 out of every 1,000 registered stolen, followed by Washington and Missouri with 15 out of every 1,000 registered vehicles stolen.

California has the highest total of stolen vehicles at 202,685 out of 14,268,528 registered vehicles, for 14 per 1,000 registered vehicles stolen. Texas has the second-highest number of vehicles stolen with 105,015 vehicles stolen, 13 out of 1,000 registered vehicles.

The 10 states where vehicle thefts are the most prevalent saw a 13 percent increase in vehicle thefts in 2022 from 2021.

As for the vehicle models most commonly stolen, CarVertical found that the full-size Chevrolet pickup truck came out on top with 48,206 thefts, followed by the full-size Ford pickup truck with 47,999 thefts.

Pickup trucks have been the most stolen passenger vehicle for the last two years, according to the NICB.

The Honda Civic and Honda Accord rank third and fourth for vehicle thefts with 31,673 and 30,274 thefts respectively, while the Toyota Camry bottoms out the list with 17,270 thefts.