This Can Help You Prevent Vehicle ID Theft
There are many things we are supposed to be on the lookout for when we perform the “walk around” we were taught to do in driver’s education – strangers in the backseat, leaking essential fluids, etc.
But there’s one very vital detail to a car that can be very easy to miss – the license plates.
Recently, we have noticed an increase in the number of license plates reported stolen or swapped out for another.
For example, a thief stole the license plate from a black 2012 BMW in the 4500 block of Fairway Avenue and replaced it with another plate between 9 a.m. on May 20 and 9 a.m. on May 25.
“The reason [thieves] steal them is they’re putting them on another vehicle to commit another crime,” University Park Police Department officer Lita Snellgrove said. “So if someone does write up the license plate, it doesn’t come back to [the thief].”
If you notice your plates are missing or have been replaced, report them stolen immediately before going to get replacement plates.
“That way, when they take down that plate number, [police] would see see that it was stolen from another vehicle,” Snellgrove said.
