Vehicle owners concerned with surge of D.C. carjackings and auto thefts 

By Chrisleen Herard

Special to the AFRO

Residents in D.C. have been filled with anxiety when walking outside of their homes on their way to work or getting off an eight-hour shift at night, only to find glass shattered on an empty parking space where their cars used to be. This has become the reality for many as the trend of car theft, forced entry and carjackings surged throughout the city with no signs of a slowdown.

“It’s almost a relief not having to worry about my car for a while—now that it’s been broken into and undrivable—here in D.C.,” said Laurel Casey, whose car was broken into in Northeast just short of a week ago. “Each night when I go to bed, I will know that when I wake up, my car won’t be there because it’s safe and sound in an auto repair shop.”

On the first day of 2023, two juveniles were arrested for carjacking in Northwest D.C. Nearly a week later, there was another carjacking incident in Southwest and, two days after that, another in Southeast. Carjackings and auto thefts have plagued the District to the extent that more than 6,400 vehicles have been reported stolen since Jan. 1–a 91 percent increase from last year, with the potential for more to follow according to the Metropolitan Police Department. 

“As far as I know, there’s not enough police presence,” Casey told the AFRO. “And when are caught, they are released.” 

“What needs to be done is major jail time once these criminals are caught,” Brandi Brown, whose car was broken into and almost stolen earlier this year, told the AFRO. “The police may catch them but then they release them a couple days later and (the suspects) go right back and do it again.”

A great portion of those arrested for carjackings, however, have been juveniles. The 167 official carjacking arrests made this year included 62 percent involving minors, the latest being a 17-year-old who was recently arrested for carjacking an FBI agent at gunpoint in Northeast. 

It’s almost a relief- not having to worry about my car for a while- now that it’s been broken into and undrivable, here in D.C. Each night when I go to bed, I know when I wake up my car won’t be there because it’s safe and sound in an auto repair shop.

Laurel Casey

Social media may be partly to blame following a trend named the “Kia” or “Hyundai” challenge, where individuals, mostly teenagers, record themselves stealing cars that were manufactured by Kia or Hyundai with nothing but a USB cord. 

“On the night of Valentine’s Day, a group of guys attempted to steal my Hyundai,” Brown said. “My neighbor heard the commotion and made noise to scare them off. Luckily, they didn’t get it but they broke my back passenger window.”

But Ugonna Ezeanya, who moved to D.C. a few weeks ago, was unfortunate enough to have neighbors who didn’t notice and scare her car thieves off like Brown did.

“On Nov. 19, I planned to go to Target, so I walked out of my apartment to the spot I parked at,” Ezeanya told the AFRO. “I live in Cathedral Heights, one block away from the D2 police station. There was no car downstairs, only broken glass and an empty parking spot. Police came about 20 minutes later and I gave a statement and car description. I drove a black 2014 Hyundai Elantra.”

The vehicles that were produced by Kia and Hyundai from 2016 to 2021 could be started with immobilizers, an electronic security device, instead of a physical key. This allowed for a USB cord, charger or any cable of the same size to start the car after being jammed in the ignition.

 Nonetheless, even those who don’t own a Kia or Hyundai have fallen victim to returning to an empty parking spot as well. 

“When I came back at the end of my 12-hour practical at the Howard University Hospital, my car was nowhere to be found,” A former Howard University nursing student, who wishes to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told the AFRO. “To be honest, I was really shocked and nursing school at the time was also really stressful, so my initial thought was maybe I parked somewhere else, but I only ever parked at the lot and there weren’t many cars in there. It then finally hit me that my 2017 Infiniti had been stolen.”

On Nov. 13, Mayor Bowser issued a public emergency regarding youth violence and revealed that during the first nine months of 2023, there have been 458 arrests of juveniles for crimes including homicide, assault, robbery and carjacking. 

“While we understand that we’re not going to arrest our way out of this violence, we also know that young people need to have consequences and boundaries,” Mayor Bowser said during a press conference. “It’s too dangerous for our kids in our cities to go unchecked, or unsupervised or unparented.”

In efforts to reduce the number of carjackings, which have reached 928 offenses, and the number of stolen cars, Mayor Bowser and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced and launched a ‘Tracking Tag Distribution Program.’

“This year, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of stolen vehicles and carjackings in the District,” said Police Chief Pamela Smith at a public news conference. “While our goal is to prevent carjackings and motor vehicle thefts from occurring in the first place, that’s not always possible.”

“AirTags and tile tag tracking devices allow MPD officers and detectives the ability to quickly locate a stolen vehicle,” Smith continued. “While the individual who stole the car may not always be present, it will still help with the recovery of stolen property and allow officers to potentially recover key pieces of evidence.”

“We always want our residents to be able to be empowered to help themselves as well,” Mayor Bowser said. “The word will also get out that this is not a community to come in and steal cars because it will not be worth your wild.”

Ezeanya, who had an AirTag in her Hyundai, tracked her car to Maryland, and was notified by her insurance claim that her car was located and impounded by the Prince George County Police.

“I went over to the impound lot in Upper Marlboro to find a car with a smashed window, destroyed ignition, dents in the body and a soiled interior,” Ezeanya said. “An insurance adjuster examined the car some days later and notified me that it was a total loss.”

Though the tracking devices were distributed by the MPD to select wards that have experienced the higher end of carjackings, residents are still feeling uneasy and are calling for more to be done.

“In my situation, the AirTag didn’t work. It was clearly tossed out of the car the day it was stolen,” Ezeanya said. “It is not enough. Handing out wheel locks, AirTags, etc. is like putting a band-aid on a wound. It doesn’t solve anything. I think that the root cause of the thefts and general uptick in crime should be examined and addressed.”

“I will eventually need a replacement because I commute into Maryland for work,” Ezeanya added. “But I am quite concerned about owning another car in this city.”

Others have taken their own steps to prevent their cars from being stolen or broken into a second time after the rise in car thefts has buried authorities in hundreds of cases. 

“I called the police and they said they were too busy to come,” Casey said. “The police are over the top, too busy with so much theft, break-ins, etc. of not only cars but apartments. AirTags and tracking devices won’t help at all if they just break the window and destroy the car. I just plan on staying away from big crime cities and if I have to go back, it will be by train.”

“The D.C. police ran my tags but that was as much as they did to help,” the former student said. “When I reached out for footage to forward to an investigator, (Howard University Police) stated they didn’t have any. Moving forward, I made sure to get a car with a tracker. Now, I have an electric vehicle that’s economically friendly and easy to track on my phone.”

Brown, on the other hand, who still drives the same vehicle that was broken into, double-clubs her car with one on the steering wheel and another on the brake. Brown has done this after being told by police that it would be “awhile” before they could get to her case due to the number of damaged and stolen car offenses and that there was a chance the suspects could come back again.

“It’s frustrating when you work hard for what you have and someone else decides it’s okay to take what you worked hard for,” Brown said, “Not to mention the expenses the victim is left with.”

The MPD has since released a list of safety tips for the public to help avoid carjackings, which includes removing the keys from the ignition, locking the car doors, reporting the crime and “above all,” giving up your property.