VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The number of car thefts in Hampton Roads is on the rise.
Earlier this week, 13News Now investigated the alarming trend in Norfolk. But in Virginia Beach, hundreds of people are reporting thieves running off with their vehicles too.
According to data from the Virginia Beach Police Department, people reported more than 521 motor vehicle thefts in the city as of July 11. That's up 39% from this time in 2021, and nearly 60% more than the city's yearly average.
Colon Ragston Jr. is one of those victims.
“It’s a unique car. It even has my name on the back," said Ragston.
On the night of June 17, he said someone stole his 2009 Lincoln MKS from outside his Virginia Beach home on Three Gait Trail. That's off Holland Road.
"When I didn’t see my car there, I thought, ‘Yeah, it is stolen,'" he said.
A month later, Ragston, a retired Navy engineer, still does not have his car or know where it could be. He suspects someone dumped it by now, and he hopes it comes up somewhere.
He remembers locking the car, but he thinks he knows how they took it.
“I know the reason why it was gone because I had an extra key in the car," he said.
The City of Norfolk is dealing with its own uptick in car theft. Recent data shows a car is stolen every 6 hours in the Mermaid City.
Thieves have taken more than 750 vehicles in the last 6 months in Norfolk. At least 136 of those cases happened in June.
A Norfolk Police Department spokesperson told 13NewsNow that drivers made most of the thefts easy because they left cars unlocked or running.
The department urges people to lock their doors.