Auto thefts rise in West Campus despite cold weather

AUSTIN, Texas - Stolen vehicles and auto thefts have risen in the West Campus area this year perhaps due to a population increase, according to the Austin Police Department.

According to APD, there have been 16 auto thefts in the area bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 29th Street, Guadalupe Street and Lamar Blvd. since Jan. 1. According to the Austin Public Information Office, there has only been an average of eight auto thefts in that same amount of time since 2011. Detective Anthony Valderas with APD said the rise in thefts and stolen vehicles is unusual for this time of year.

Its been pretty cold, so its rare that this increase has happened, Valderas said. Upticks really occur during the summer.

The total number of auto thefts in the West Campus area has also been on the rise, increasing by about 5 cases per year since 2011. According to reports from the APD, auto thefts have been 20 percent higher in the summer than in the winter in Austin since 2012. In the West Campus area, auto thefts have been, on average, 50 percent higher in the summer than in the winter since 2011. Valderas said the erratic nature of automobile crimes makes it harder for police to track perpetrators down.

The city is just getting bigger, Valderas said. Youve got an increase in population, so youre going to have an increase in crime. These things happen in spurts. They happen so sporadically its hard to pinpoint them.

Cullen Bounds, sophomore at UT and West Campus resident, said his car was stolen from the Block on 25th complex garage on March 7. Bounds said his car keys were left inside his 2003 Ford Explorer on accident.

There was a miscommunication between my roommate and I, Bounds said. He left my keys in it with it unlocked overnight and in that one night it was stolen.

Bounds said his car was found and returned to him by police on Wednesday, but the vehicle was in dirty condition. He even found personal documents left by the suspect in his car.

Everything that belonged to me in the vehicle was cleared out, Bounds said. It was trashed. There were condom wrappers, Spanish Bibles and there was a rosary on my gear shift.

University of Texas police officer William Piper also said the increase in auto thefts is rare for the area. APD alerts the University of Texas Police Department when there is an increase in these types of crimes near the university campus.

The City of Austin police department has contacted us twice just in the past [two months] regarding motorcycle thefts, scooter thefts and vehicle thefts, Piper said. Twice in a two month time period - thats a little odd. Normally well get an alert like that from APD maybe once a semester or so.

Piper said that although the UTPD alerts its students and officers of the increase in crime around campus, crimes off-campus dont usually correlate with crimes on-campus.

Sometimes there is bleed over in those crimes, but not frequently, Piper said.

Valderas said auto thefts and burglaries in Austin are usually committed by juveniles age 16 and younger. He said measures like an 11 p.m. curfew for minors are in place to prevent crime, but those measures are not always effective.

Weve got a lot of juvenile crime in the Austin area, Valderas said. They still have their ways of making it out to the street unless we stop them or they get contact from their parents.

Piper said situations like Bounds happen frequently because criminals are looking for unlocked doors and spare keys. According to Valderas, 50 percent of returned stolen vehicles still have the keys inside.

The biggest part is getting the communitys involvement, Piper said. If we encourage students, faculty, staff and citizens to make sure they lock their car doors, roll up their windows, make sure they dont leave anything in their cars and report suspicious activity, theres a good chance we can apprehend the suspect.

Although Bounds said his car was stolen because he left his keys inside, he thinks part of the blame falls on the apartment complex. He said the underground garage where he parks his car is gated, but that the gates have been left open for over a month.

They were not the most receptive when I went in to let them know my car had been stolen, Bounds said. I suggested that maybe they send out an email telling people to be careful because there are people stealing cars out of the garage, but nothing was done.

Bounds agrees with Piper and Valderas in thinking the biggest element in preventing auto thefts is citizen vigilance, but said he thinks police and apartment complexes can do more in preventing this type of crime.

They did not take it as seriously as I wish they had, Bounds said. I think upping security in the apartment buildings would be a hindrance to that crime.