'I Hope It Doesn't Happen To Me' | Tire Thefts Reported Across Howard County
CLARKSVILLE, Md. (WJZ) — Tire thieves are at it again, this time in Howard County.
It was a weekend of car thefts in Howard County. Police say since Saturday night, seven cars were targeted across the Clarksville and Columbia area.
The suspects got away with tires and rims, officials say.
"It happens really quickly," Sherry Llewellyn, of the Howard County Police Department, said. "The people who conduct this type of behavior they get in an out as fast as they can and then they take the merchandise and try to resell it."
Police say since overnight Saturday, seven sets of tires were stolen off vehicles in the area -- five of them -- in the parking lot of a car dealership in Clarksville and in the parking lot of two hotels in Columbia.
An unknown suspect entered the parking lot in the 12400 block of Auto Drive overnight on August 22, and removed five sets of tires and rims from vehicles, police said.
Early in the morning August 23, an unknown suspect stole all four tires and rims from a 2019 Nissan Altima in the 8100 block of Stanford Boulevard.
The recent string of thefts has left neighbors on edge.
"Again it's scary, it's a horrible feeling to think you would come out," Debby Quigg, of Howard County, said. "I was just in shopping. I'm going to come out and see my car up on cinder blocks with no tires on it"?
The number of car thefts continues to rise across the region. In June, police released video of two thieves quickly sweeping a white car of its tires and rims.
Police say they're working to figure out if the three cases are connected.
"The thing that makes it challenging is that we know they come into a county, they do some damage for a short period of time, and then they move out of the county into other jurisdiction which makes it hard to track them," Llewellyn said.
Police say the cars hit the most are Hondas, Chevys, and Nissans- with tires and rims that can quickly sell online for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars.
"If it happens, I hope it doesn't happen to me," Jeremy Dillard, of Howard County, said.
Police are advising people to park in well-lit areas since most of these thefts are done when it's dark out. They are asking anyone with information about these incidents to contact them immediately.
