ROMULUS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – When Joe Hebeka returned from a holiday in December, he found the tires on his car, a 2022 Jeep Wagoneer, were stolen.
Hebeka left the jeep at a parking garage at the Detroit Metro Airport. It was sitting on cinderblocks and bricks with destruction that would charge him all over $8,000.
“It took a few seconds just for us to understand this was genuinely our automobile,” explained Hebeka. “I assumed maybe this was a slip-up. This are unable to be.”
“I thought it was a safe and sound spot to park. It can be only 100 yards absent from an international airport. I assume you can park your vehicle there and it will be risk-free.”
Studies of people today concentrating on automobiles at the airport’s parking garages are starting to be a lot more popular. Vehicles becoming stolen appears to be the most important trouble.
An airport spokesperson states there were only three car or truck thefts in 2021. In 2022, that range shot up to 29, which is close to a 900{09e594db938380acbda72fd0ffbcd1ef1c99380160786adb3aba3c50c4545157} maximize.
“The automobile had sat for at minimum 10 hours-12 hours, so no one is patrolling,” Hebeka mentioned.
Hebeka was also shocked to obtain out there had been in essence no cameras in the parking garages at the airport. He stated when authorities reviewed surveillance footage, the video was from the spot in which drivers get their tickets.
He reported there was no angle demonstrating what transpired to his car within the parking garage.
No a single was arrested.
“When you search around, you comprehend there aren’t any cameras anywhere. It really is incredibly unsafe,” Hebecka said.
Hebecka suggests he is hoping the airport will get the safety fears significantly.
“Ideally if anything at all comes out of this to deter this from going on, just blocking any individual from potentially having wounded.”
A spokesperson for the airport despatched the pursuing assertion:
“It is nicely identified that automobile thefts are surging in the surrounding parts and throughout the condition. At Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, we function one of the major parking regions in the entire world totaling a lot more than 18,000 on-airport parking spaces. The McNamara Terminal Parking Deck by alone is the 3rd-largest single deck in the planet, which sits forward of the Disney Globe, Magic Kingdom and Epcot Plenty blended. Typically, more than a million motor vehicles park at DTW every single 12 months 29 ended up stolen in 2022 and 3 in 2021. We are knowledgeable there is a sharp boost in the thefts of 1 auto make in unique and have engaged the producer to seek out technical help.
“The protection of every car at DTW continues to be a precedence. In reaction to the current thefts, our Airport Authority Law enforcement Department and Security teams have added patrols to make sure 24-hour protection in the Huge Blue Deck and the McNamara Terminal Parking Deck. We are actively discovering installation of supplemental cameras and other technologies to greatly enhance safety, as effectively as pursuing additional investigative and enforcement methods.
“Suspects have been arrested who are connected to thefts at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Our police division continues to do the job with quite a few law enforcement agencies to handle stolen cars not only at DTW, but throughout Michigan.”
