HOPEWELL, Va. -- Police in Hopewell are seeing an increase in car thefts and freezing temperatures have a role in it.
On January 5, Jennifer Tate and her husband were warming up their two cars on a chilly winter morning.
"That morning it was like 20 degrees and we have three small children," Tate explained. "He came back into the house at 6:05 and I would say within five minutes, he stepped outside because he heard tires peel and when he did, he saw his truck going down Randall Street and then take a right onto Smithfield."
Police in Hopewell said that they have seen a recent spike in this type of car theft.
"Since the first of November, we've had eight total cases where someone has left their car running in the morning, go to find it and it's gone," Cheyenne Casale with Hopewell Police said.
Jennifer not only filed a police report but took to social media to try and find her husband's truck.
One way to protect your vehicle from theft and still warm it up is by installing a remote start.
"Typically, once we get that first cold snap, which usually occurs in November, that's when they start going on the books," Philip Jordan with RadioActive said. "For the vast majority of vehicles, all the parts, pieces, labor installed, remote starts are $400."
The technology helps to warm up your car and limit the chance of theft.
"Once we put the remote start in the vehicle, it cannot be stolen because the person gets in to try and steal it, once they put their foot on the break, it kills the system," Jordan said.
For the Tate family, the theft of their truck has prompted them and several of their neighbors to install surveillance cameras.
If you have any information about car thefts in Hopewell, you're asked to call Crime Solvers at (804) 541-2202.
