Police putting pressure on auto thieves in county

Jen Lawson

Friday, March 26, 2004 | 9:30 a.m.

Crooks in Las Vegas routinely steal cars for transportation while committing other crimes -- robberies, burglaries, shootings, drug offenses, Metro Police said.

So, in the wake of a 21 percent increase in auto thefts in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County last year, the department last month started targeting Las Vegas' most active auto thieves for arrest and enhanced prosecution. In addition to reducing the number of vehicles stolen, Metro expects that the initiative, announced Thursday, will result in a decrease in other major crimes.

The effort already appears to be affecting the auto theft rate. The number of auto thefts is down significantly for March compared with the same period of 2003. Through March 22, Metro had logged 673 auto thefts for the month compared with a tally of 1,228 in March 2003.

Metro predicts there will be other benefits as well.

"Auto theft is a common thread that runs through other crimes," Capt. Rick Bilyeu of Metro's financial/property crimes bureau said. "If we can slam these vehicle thieves we are going to take care of other crimes that are occurring as well."

At the heart of the initiative is a more aggressive approach to evidence-gathering and prosecution. It involves a number of Metro departments, including the repeat offender unit, chop shop investigators, patrol and general assignment officers as well as the Clark County district attorney's office and the public.

Before this initiative began last month, car thieves "weren't being prosecuted as fervently," Bilyeu said.

"There were problems with prosecution of these cases," he said. The district attorney's office sometimes declined to file charges against alleged car thieves because of a lack of good evidence.

For example, perhaps the officers at the scene didn't ask the right questions in order to obtain information that would make the case stronger.

Now, detectives are following up with the auto theft reports right away, Capt. Greg McCurdy of Metro's investigative services said.

"We want to get prison time for these individuals," he said.

Of the 434 auto theft cases reviewed since the initiative kicked off on Feb. 2, police said 20 were enhanced, meaning the prosecutor's office has guaranteed to take the cases because they are strong and the perpetrator has a history of car theft, Bilyeu said.

"What we're shooting for when we talk about enhancement is a felony conviction," he said. "These cases will not be pled down to misdemeanors."

The criteria for enhancements is one past conviction for an auto-related crime -- grand larceny auto, possession of a stolen vehicle, burglarizing a vehicle, evading, tampering with a vehicle or taking a vehicle without the owner's consent -- or three arrests within a year for an auto-related crime.

Fourteen of the cases were enhanced in February and of those, 10 of the defendants pleaded guilty to felonies, one is going to trial and two have been continued.

"Those are good results," Bilyeu said.

District Attorney David Roger said even though his office is swamped with cases -- it handled about 53,000 last year -- it makes sense to go after car thieves.

Most of the crime in this community is committed by a core group of habitual offenders, he said.

"It's not just about auto theft," Roger said. "There are many carer criminals who steal vehicles in order to commit other crimes."

The public is also an important part of the effort to curb car theft, police said.

In about 20 percent of auto theft cases, the owners had left the keys inside.

Police encourage motorists to make it difficult for their cars to be stolen: Close the windows, lock the doors and take your keys; activate your alarm every time you leave your car unattended; if you have a garage at home, use it; place all personal items out of sight; park close to the entrances of shopping areas.

Drivers can also register for the "Watch Your Car" program, available in Las Vegas and Henderson. If drivers don't normally drive between 1 and 5 a.m. they can agree to have their car stopped by police if it's spotted on the road during those hours.

Applications are available at any area command or at City Hall, 400 Stewart Ave. More information is available at Metro's website, www.lvmpd.com.

Police statistics show 15,045 cars were stolen last year in Las Vegas; 5,971 were stolen from apartment complexes. The most commonly stolen car was the Honda Accord.