Cars left on the ground - Spate of rim and tyre thefts hits Irish Town, Redlight, Gordon Town

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Several motorists who live in Redlight District, Gordon Town and Irish Town in rural St Andrew have been the victims of a recent spate of peculiar motor vehicle related theft.

A police officer from the Irish Town station explained, "It is not too long that it has been going on, probably about two weeks ago now. It used to go on a time before. We have tried to set up a dragnet between the police and some community members working with the police to catch them. These unscrupulous persons didn't come back and then it cooled off for a long time and then about two weeks ago, it started up again."

"We are trying our best, but it seems as though these culprits study the police. I do not feel that it is any strangers ... . I just feel that it is the same guys from the area doing it," the officer, who preferred to remain unnamed, continued.

No arrests have been made so far and the officer was unwilling to connect the crimes to the booming taxi business.

POSSIBLE TARGETS

"Well I don't know of any being sold to taxis, but I do know that they are taking them off some time at nights. We try our best; sometimes we don't drive the service vehicles. We walk around about two or three miles in the night and we leave all 2 a.m. to 3 a.m.," the officer said. He has not seen a trend of a specific make or model vehicle being targeted.

At the Gordon Town Police Station, an officer, who also preferred to remain anonymous, told Automotives that the matter was a hot topic. "You know that I was just having a conversation about this. It is true. I'm not sure how long it has started, but we have quite a few reports on this," he said.

Like in Irish Town, no arrests have been made so far. However, the officer said the police have been working on information they have received. He also could not say if the stolen items are being sold to taxi operators or if there was a specific type of vehicles being targeted.