BUFFALO, N.Y. — Broken glass and hotwired vehicles using just a flash drive have been the images that have lived on social media feeds for almost a year now and are showing no signs of slowing down.
This week alone, two separate incidents took place with vehicles being stolen in the City of Buffalo and taken to commit crimes in two separate locations in Tonawanda just six miles apart.
The first was late Monday evening when an unknown driver fired shots into this house on Wendel Ave.
The second was three and half hours later at the Tonawanda water treatment facility where 21-year-old Jashwan Fields crashed directly into a tree with two other passengers.
Buffalo police arrested Fields on scene for a number of charges including possession of stolen property — a crime he was charged for two weeks prior in Williamsville.
2 On Your Side asked Buffalo police commissioner Joseph Gramaglia about these vehicles being used for committing crimes.
2 On Your Side: “It seems that we're seeing these folks stealing cars, committing crimes, and then ditching the vehicle. How big of a concern is that?”
Gramaglia: “Oh, it’s a significant concern. We see shootings, we see shots fired, and we see other types of crimes that are involved. They're using these cars, and they're swapping out they're going to another two, three, four cars. They’re ditching them.”
Gramaglia said his department has seen just under 1,500 stolen Kias and Hyundais in the first six months of this year.
The commissioner says they see mostly repeat offenders, but since many of them are minors, there is only so much they do.
“They're juveniles,” Gramaglia said. “There's no accountability. If we are fortunate enough to actually grab somebody and make an arrest, they go to family court. We don't see what happens with the resolution of that case.”
In the meantime, the police commissioner says residents can obtain steering wheel locks or should keep their vehicles in a garage when possible to prevent these thefts.
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