'A bit unusual': Wheels from multiple cars in Davis stolen over the weekend, police say
Davis resident Jordan Bell said he woke up Monday morning to his Toyota Corolla missing its wheels and tires.
Davis resident Jordan Bell said he woke up Monday morning to his Toyota Corolla missing its wheels and tires.
Davis resident Jordan Bell said he woke up Monday morning to his Toyota Corolla missing its wheels and tires.
Several cars around the city of Davis were found over the weekend by their owners without wheels and tires, according to the Davis Police Department.
Davis Police said six cars had their wheels and tires taken off them between Friday night and Sunday evening, Lt. Dan Beckwith with the police department said there were many similarities between the cars at the center of each theft.
“All six of them were parked in publicly accessible places, either on the street or apartment complex parking lots,” Beckwith said. “All of the vehicles have been reported to be left on bricks or cinderblocks.”
Beckwith also said that all the cars were either Honda or Toyota sedans.
Davis resident Jordan Bell said he woke up Monday morning to his Toyota Corolla missing its wheels and tires. He said it was surprising to see some key components missing, especially because he stuck to his normal routine.
“Ever since I’ve had this new one for the past two years or so, I pretty much always park here on the road and haven’t had any issues,” Bell said.
Bell said it would cost an estimated $3,000 to replace all the stolen parts. Although his insurance would cover most of the bill, Bell would still have to pay around $500. As a UC Davis graduate student participating in a strike against low wages, Bell said this unexpected cost is a tough pill to swallow right now.
“We don’t get paid well enough to handle these kinds of expenditures,” Bell said. “I’m surviving off of the income that I have —barely — so when someone comes and takes all your wheels that are going to cost you quite a bit to get back, you just don’t have it.”
When KCRA 3 asked Davis police if the six thefts this weekend were part of a larger trend in Davis, Beckwith said, “We’ve had 14 cases since January of this year, so a majority of that has occurred this weekend, so I wouldn’t say it was a greater trend that I’m aware of.”
But the lieutenant added that having six of those 14 cases in a short period of time is unusual.
Despite the six recent cases being very similar, Beckwith said police are still not sure if the same person or group of people is responsible for the thefts. He said officers are following up with each victim to get more details. There is also no known suspect information.