PIKESVILLE, Md. – As the temperature begins to drop, Maryland State Police want drivers to remember the chances of your vehicle being stolen go up, if you leave it idling unattended as you wait for it to warm up.
Shortly before 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, a trooper from the Maryland State Police Bel Air Barrack tried to stop a driver on westbound Route 22 at Sablewood Road in Bel Air, Maryland for a 2014 Hyundai Elantra that had been reported stolen in Pennsylvania. According to a preliminary investigation, after the trooper activated his emergency lights, he saw all four occupants of the Hyundai bail out of the vehicle before they ran southbound on Redfield Road.
The Bel Air Barrack received a call of another stolen vehicle on the 900 block of Pentwood Court in Bel Air, Maryland. This happened just a few blocks away from the bailout on Sablewood Road. In the second case, the victim told investigators that he had walked outside to start up his 1997 silver Honda Civic to allow it to warm up that morning. The victim said that when he returned to his vehicle it was gone.
According to the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council, a car is stolen every 49 minutes in Maryland and every 39 seconds in the United States. Overall, 10,683 vehicles were stolen in Maryland in 2020, down from 11,255 in 2019. Of those, 50 percent of vehicles stolen in Maryland had keys inside the vehicle and 60 percent of the vehicles stolen were left unlocked.
Maryland State Police also want to remind drivers that leaving your vehicle running unattended not only increases the chances of it getting stolen, it is also illegal. According to state law, police can issue a ticket with a $70 fine and one point against your driving record for such a violation. Also, if the vehicle slips out of gear and causes an accident, you could be issued a ticket with a $110 fine and three points against your driving record.