They're 10 years older - and still getting caught.

What has changed is they are stealing cars for profit, said Lt. Allan Anami, head of the Honolulu Police Department's auto theft detail.

And more women are getting into the act.

Recently released crime statistics for May show that auto thefts rose for the fifth straight month, with police investigating 696 cases - an average of 22 a day in Honolulu. That was 44 cases more than the total for the same period last year.

But the high number of stolen cars doesn't faze police anymore. It's the violence that erupts when police try to pull over or approach the driver of a stolen vehicle.

"Nine times out of 10 the auto thief will run," said Lt. William Kato of the major crimes detail. And when that happens, lives and property are at risk.

Since February, there have been at least four cases in which police investigating a stolen vehicle have drawn and fired their weapons - apparently believing their lives were in danger. On June 7, an officer fatally shot 16-year-old Jared Fe Benito after police said the youth tried to drive through a blockade of police cars, nearly hitting an officer. Four days earlier, police had charged 26-year-old Benjamin Pale of Makaha with criminal property damage for ramming a patrolman's car three times.

Pale allegedly struck the officer - he had pulled Pale over for having bogus license plates - and nearly ran him over. The officer fired at Pale, who managed to escape and led police on a chase through Waianae before abandoning his car and fleeing on foot.

Pale earlier this year had been sentenced to five years' probation for an auto theft conviction, Anami said. A few months later, he was arrested again for auto theft.

Before, an officer who turned on his blue lights after confirming a car he was following was stolen or had bogus plates could expect the driver to pull over.

Police suspect that the violence they've seen in recent years involving stolen cars is occurring because the cars are being linked more and more to other crimes: homicides, robbery, theft, drugs and gang activity.

Criminals prefer to use stolen cars when they commit other crimes because there's less chance the car will be traced to them, Anami said.

"Anonymity makes it increasingly attractive for crooks to use stolen cars in the commission of a crime," he said.

Most of those caught driving stolen cars often have been arrested before for other property crimes, he said. Drug abuse often is a motivation.

"They're whacked out on ice and crack and they can't get off, so they're stealing cars to make money," Anami said.

Many caught driving stolen cars would get off the hook by saying they had borrowed the car and didn't know it was stolen. Of the 1,800 suspects arrested last year for auto theft, at least 800 went free.