NEW ORLEANS — The video begins with two people walking up to a car in West End. In about five minutes, they are walking away with the last of the car’s tires.
The NOPD does not track tire thefts specifically, categorizing them as “theft from the exterior of a vehicle.” But they are happening frequently– from both parked cars and abandoned ones– says Ray Mubarak of 3 Brothers Quick Towing. “We see cars like this almost every day,” he told WWL Louisiana. “This year is worse than last year.”
It is often a crime of opportunity. If a car is left on the side of the road after an accident or breakdown, “they target it,” said Mubarak. He added that it usually happens in “an hour, 2 hours, depends where you’re located,” and that if “you’re on the I-10, probably one hour you’d be gone.”
There is a way to slow the thieves down. Martin Garcia, who manages the Street Kings branch in Marrero, said he has not noticed any recent spike in tire thefts but agrees “it’s frequent enough where it is a problem.”
He demonstrated how to use a wheel lock, which is screwed in in place of a lug nut on each tire. They have a distinct pattern on them which makes it impossible to use a normal wrench. Instead, the lug comes with a key that matches the pattern.
It is not foolproof. “People lose their keys all the time, so they create lock removers so people can use something to remove those locks,” said Garcia. More unique patterns are available, though that makes it more difficult to find a replacement key if a driver loses theirs. Sometimes, “we have to use an extractor,” said Garcia.
Rather than preventing theft completely, Garcia said the purpose of the lock is to slow thieves down, something which can make the difference between them being caught and not.
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