RESIDENTS OF DUHANEY Park are sick of being targeted by car thieves. According to the police in the South St. Andrew community, car thieves have been making a killing stealing cars from residents there.
"Something needs to be done about this and soon because too many people are losing their cars now," said S. Robinson, a resident of Duhaney Park. Robinson told THE STAR that his car was stolen from him at his gate two weeks ago by two young men. "I just came home from work and got out of the car to pull my gate and by the time I pull the gate and come back to the car, the guys come out of nowhere and seh 'ole bwoy gimme di keys to di car'. I tell them it in the ignition and dem jus' jump in the car and gone," said the 54-year-old businessman. He said he has not seen or heard of his 2001 silver Toyota Camry since.
Problem based
What is even more troubling for Robinson, he said, are the reports of other car thefts in the area. "I never knew this was happening before," he said. "Is since they take my car I realise it is a problem based on the information I am getting. It seems like is a ring of them targetting this area."
The Duhaney Park police have confirmed that there has been a spate of car thefts in their area. They said they first noticed the explosion of such incidents last December and it has not abated.
A policeman stationed in Duhaney Park said that the thieves usually strike between Thursdays and Saturdays and target Honda and Toyota motor vehicles. And while he would not say if it was the same group of persons involved, he said that the "modus operandi was similar."
Another policeman there told THE STAR that the thieves tend to wait until car owners get to their gates or are leaving their gates before they strike. The policeman said that the chances of recovering the vehicles are next to impossible, because of the far reaches of car-stealing rings in the island.
More vigilant
"A vehicle that is stolen in Duhaney Park is probably being sold in Sav (Savannah-La-Mar, Westmoreland), so you can just kiss that vehicle goodbye," he said.
At least one of the victims of the Duhaney Park car thieves believes that her vehicle has ended up on the stolen car market. Sheryl Thomas, a computer technician, said her blue 2002 Honda Civic sedan was stolen after she pulled up to her gate less than 200 metres from the Duhaney Park Police Station, a month ago. "That gone man, gone go sell at some car mart a country. Me certain bout that," Thomas told THE STAR.
The Duhaney Park police are appealing to the motorists to be more vigilant when they are getting in and out of their vehicles and to install anti-theft devices such as a kill switch, a device that disables the vehicle if it is stolen.
"There was a case a couple months ago when they stole a man's vehicle and it had a kind of alarm in it that the vehicle locked up on them. The car would not move and the windows nor doors would not open - the guys had to shoot their way out of it," said one of the policeman.
