Multiple Twin Cities drivers the target of car thefts while pumping gas
MINNEAPOLIS — Some Twin Cities drivers are experiencing a different kind of pain at the pump.
Surveillance video from a south Minneapolis gas station shows a thief taking John Schwietz's car while he was filling up Monday.
The man jumps out of a car that pulls up alongside Schwietz, gets in Schwietz's car and speeds away.
"I thought for a second that I had forgotten to put it in park," Schwietz said. "I never saw the [other] car. I never heard it. In a crazy way, you almost have to admire how great the crooks were."
Two weeks earlier, Alison Clark experienced something similar while she was pumping gas at an Edina station.
"In the corner of my eye, I heard the door slam and the doors lock," she said. "This guy just got in my car and sped away. Never saw him other than a blur. I was pretty stunned for the first several hours."
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Both cars were recovered. Clark's had some body damage and smoke damage inside.
Clark and Schwietz say the experience has been a lesson in vigilance.
"The keys don't leave my pocket [now]," Clark said. "I'm locking, locking, probably more than I need to lock, but it helps me feel better right now."
Edina police have recorded eight car thefts in the city since the new year.
Minneapolis crime data shows that January has seen, on average, 17 cars stolen per day, and that's actually down about 20% from last year.
"The more we can spread awareness, get people thinking about it, talking about it, taking those extra steps, it's going to be worth it to maybe have it be lessened in our community as much as we can," Clark said.
No arrests have been made in either case.