BUFFALO, N.Y. — The issue continues. Police are in pursuit, chasing people and stealing cars. It's like the chase in Niagara Falls on Saturday morning. It's leaving a stolen Hyundai crashed, and a Kia upside down.
"I don't think people know how serious this problem is in this area," Justine Link of Western New York Stolen Vehicles said.
Stolen vehicles are a troubling trend that's plaguing Western New York. Buffalo is now being ranked third in the country for most of them.
"I found the kids driving it at a stop light right in front of me," Link says.
In June, Justine Link got a taste of it first-hand. She told 2 On Your Side so did her sister and mother. In fact, her mother's vehicle was the Jeep that critically injured Cheektowaga Police Officer Troy Blackchief.
Reporter: What ran through your mind when you found out and knew it was your mom's car?
Link replied: "It was a lot of fear. The biggest concern ultimately comes from, will we get sued or backlash?"
And since then, Link took her story and ran.
"I'm a mom. I'm a nurse. I want to live in a community where we're safe, and where youth and families are thriving," Link says.
Photos of stolen vehicles hang from seats inside the Frank E. Merriweather Library. It's where Link is calling on the community with a panel to stop the issue and start holding others accountable.
"Focus on prevention. We don't want to just react, but how can we prevent these things from happening," Link says.
On that panel was Pastor James Giles with Buffalo Peacemakers.
"We have to begin marshaling our efforts around this," Giles says.
He says some of his youth were involved in a few thefts.
We've been able to turn a few around," Giles said.
He added, "We're putting them on this pathway of understanding, teaching our youth how to make decisions, not just how to make decisions but how to make decisions in the face of challenges."
But until the problem is resolved, Link will continue to talk and share her story with others.