Thieves Targeting SUV Third Row Seats
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GRAND PRAIRIE (CBSDFW.COM) - There and gone in less than 30 seconds.
Thieves are stealing valuables from inside SUVs across North Texas, but what they're taking may surprise you.
Grand Prairie police say more and more criminals are targeting the third row seats in SUVs.
It happened to Pam Smith's GMC Yukon Denaili. The criminal didn't even break the glass to get inside this SUV, but what the thief took will cost thousands of dollars to replace.
"Less than 8 seconds they say," said Smith, when describing how fast criminals can get in and out.
"I think they probably looked through the neighborhood, looked at certain cars and probably chose the vehicle they were going to hit," she said.
Two weeks ago, Smith came out to find the hatch broken, and the seats gone. Five other SUVs in Grand Prairie were hit in the last month, and some of them were broken into in broad daylight.
Officers are seeing an uptick in other cities too.
Not only are the suspects hard to track, Detective Mark Beseda says third row seats for GMCs, Chevys, and Cadillacs are easy to resell online for hundreds of dollars.
"They're not marked. So basically you have a leather or cloth seat that you can not tie down to one vehicle," said Beseda.
It cost Smith four thousand dollars to replace her stolen seats, but her feeling of safety still hasn't returned.
"No. I don't' feel comfortable. I mean i think it will happen again at some point. Just when. Hopefully with my lock they won't be able to take them next time," she said.
Smith's new seats are now bolted in place.
Police are reminding people to either back up against the garage door or park inside the garage to keep their SUVs safe.
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