Connecticut Ranked Third in the Country for an Increase in Car Thefts

www.wfsb.com, Cassidy Williams, April 17, 2024

WOLCOTT, Conn. (WFSB) - Connecticut ranked third in the country for an increase in car thefts last year.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau crunched the numbers and found the number of car thefts went up 33% in 2023 from 2022.

In Wolcott, the increase in car thefts was even higher.

“A few of them are happening at gas stations or convenience stores where people are running in and out of,” said Wolcott Police Chief Ed Stephens.

Stephens says car thefts in his town doubled last year from only 20 in 2022 to 46 in 2023.

Chief Stephens is not surprised.

“Most of the perpetrators are juveniles. They know nothing happens to them, so they are more likely to keep doing what they are doing. You catch them. You arrest them. Nothing really happens to them, so they go out and do it again. It does not surprise me,” Stephens said.

Channel 3 has profiled thieves all across the state over the last year, from an Aston Martin being stolen right out of a driveway, to victims who describe the car being stolen right in front of them. Continue article