QUEENS — The number of car thefts in Forest Hills skyrocketed by 80 percent since last year, fueled in part by a recent spike, police officials said this week.
The news comes amid a spate of tire and rim thefts and car break-ins in the area.
Seventeen cars were stolen in the 112th Precinct, which covers Forest Hills and Rego Park, in the 28-day period ending Nov. 9, said Capt. Judith Harrison, the precinct’s commanding officer, at a community council meeting Tuesday night.
That’s a 1,600 percent increase compared to only one such incident in the same period last year.
According to statistics provided by the NYPD for the period beginning Jan. 1 through Nov. 9, 90 vehicles were stolen in the precinct this year, compared to 50 car thefts in the same period last year, an increase of 80 percent.
And more cars have been stolen so far this year than in all of last year, when there were just 60 car thefts total.
Harrison said that while the reason for the spike remains unclear, thieves do not seem to target any specific types of cars. She said that among the vehicles stolen in the precinct were Ford Econolines and Acuras, as well as motorcycles.
“What you can do is, if you don’t already have an alarm, you need to invest in [an] alarm,” Harrison said at the meeting. “When you park your vehicles, park your vehicles in well-lit areas.”
She also suggested installing tracking devices in vehicles and making sure to lock the cars.
Police officers in the precinct recently arrested a man who was breaking into vehicles in which the owners left the car door unlocked.
When the man got arrested, she said, he had a guitar, jewelry and a wallet that did not belong to him. Police, she said, were able to return the items to the owners.
His name was not immediately available.
The captain said that thieves have also been stealing tires and rims in the area.
There have been at least 24 such incidents in the precinct this year.
Thieves have been targeting mostly Hondas, but they also stole rims and tires from Infinities and Toyotas, according to the precinct.
Harrison suggested that car owners get locking lug nuts, which makes it harder for the thieves to remove rims and tires.
Overall crime in the precinct is down, Harrison said. According to statistics provided by the NYPD, overall crime in the 112th Precinct this year decreased by 9.35 percent.
"This is a property crime driven precinct...which is good because it’s not violence-driven," Harrison said.
