HPD says Honolulu police detectives believe that fewer than 100 auto thieves are responsible for a majority of the 8,000-plus cars that were stolen on Oahu last year.
car thieves are
repeat customers
By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.comPolice said what appears to be happening is that auto thieves are stealing the cars for other criminals, and those people will in turn usually use the stolen vehicle to commit other crimes.
The result is that if police arrest someone driving a stolen car, they usually have not caught the auto thieves themselves.
"We have a lot of cars being stolen, but in comparison I don't think we have a lot of auto thieves," said Honolulu Police Capt. Alan Arita.
"What we may be looking at is not necessarily an organized ring, but a group of people who are good at stealing cars, and they're using their skills to trade with other criminals.
"It's like some sort of bartering system."
Police said one example of a suspected auto thief who steals for other alleged criminals is Roger Larson, a fugitive whom investigators have been looking for since Dec. 27. Larson is wanted on a $30,000 contempt warrant as well as for questioning in a Wahiawa auto theft case. Police said he may be armed with a handgun and should be considered dangerous.
Investigators would not say how many cases they believe Larson might be involved in, only that he is one of the more troublesome auto thieves who are hitting again and again.
"From what we've learned from our sources, a typical day for some of these auto thieves is, they go out and steal a car, then contact people to see if they know if anyone is interested in a stolen car," said Detective Bruce Swann.
"Then they trade the car for money or for 'ice' (crystal methamphetamine), then go out and steal another car."
As for those who have traded for the stolen car, Swann said the suspects usually end up "cruising beaches, lookouts, parking lots, places where they can break into other vehicles and get money, credit cards or anything else of value."
That is why police often find evidence of other crimes when they pull over someone in a stolen car.
"I can't remember the last time we arrested someone in a stolen car and there weren't stolen goods inside the vehicle," said Swann.
And while the other criminals are often caught red-handed, unfortunately, Swann adds, "the window of opportunity to catch the actual auto thief is much smaller because he's not on the road for very long. ... He gets rid of the car fast, then it's on to another one."
There were 8,445 cars stolen in 2002, according to Honolulu police statistics, a 50.1 percent increase from the year before at 5,597. The 2002 total broke a previous auto theft high on Oahu set in 1995, with 7,440 stolen that year.
There were also close to 25,000 more cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles on the road last year than the year before, according to the city Department of Motor Vehicles. Statistics show that in 2002 there were 656,197 registered vehicles, up from 631,237 in 2001 and 614,985 in 2000.
With elusive auto thieves and a growing number of vehicles to steal, Arita said HPD is already focusing on those identified as the "big players" in the auto theft world by assigning its Career Criminals unit to gather intelligence and evidence that in the end will help prosecutors make their cases against repeat offenders.
Other plans include revitalizing neighborhood watch and citizen patrol groups in some high crime areas, setting up a comprehensive auto theft "map" to track where and when cars are being stolen, and working with the Hawaii Insurers Council to provide more funding for training in auto theft investigations.
