By Blake Haas

NORMAL – As the colder months arrive, car thefts are rising in one of Central Illinois’ largest towns.

Getting into a cold car is never fun, but authorities in Normal want residents to remain vigilant when warming up their vehicles.

Often, NPD sees residents start their car and return inside – that’s where the thieves take advantage.

“A lot of times, you know, it’s just people driving for, we call it ‘crimes of opportunities.’ So, somebody will see a running car that is unlocked and they will take advantage of that and steal the car,” NPD Public Information officer Darin Bachman told WJBC’s Todd Wineburner. “A lot of the times we may find the car crashed somewhere or the car may even make it out of the Bloomington-Normal area, and it’s hard to recover at that point.”

It turns out Normal is not alone – car thefts in the first half of 2023 were over 1-hundred percent higher than in 2019.

According to AAA, thieves stole nearly a million cars across the United States last year.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].