SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The city of Sioux Falls is on track to see a decrease in car thefts this year, but after a flurry of stolen vehicle reports over the last two days, the Sioux Falls Police Department is reminding everyone to take more precautions with your vehicle.
Last week, we told you that stolen vehicles numbers in Sioux Falls are on track to decrease from last year. From January through November of 2023, there were 1,495 stolen vehicles. From January through November of this year, there were about 250 fewer thefts.
“I think this is encouraging to see that there’s a decrease. It’s not just by one or two. I mean, if we’re looking at 250, that’s a pretty substantial number,” Sioux Falls Police Department spokesman Sam Clemens said last week.
Although stolen vehicles are on pace to fall from a record year last year, that does not mean that you can let your guard down.
“I counted nine stolen vehicle case reports that were done over the last two days,” Sgt. Travis Olsen of the Sioux Falls Police Department said.
And in about half of those cases, the thefts were easily preventable.
“It looked like there were about four of them that either have the keys in them or were running somewhere with the keys in them, and someone took off in their vehicle,” Olsen said.
Police also say that car thefts are not specific to one area of Sioux Falls.
“It seems like it kind of goes on all over, So even in quiet suburban type neighborhoods, it seems like people will still grab a car if they have access to it,” Olsen said.
Which means you still need to be cautious.
“In a perfect world, I’d love to say that we should be able to run our cars with the keys in them in our driveways and not have to worry about it, but the truth of the matter is, there are people out there that will take advantage of that,” Olsen said.
To file a stolen vehicle report, you can call 605-367-7000, and an officer will be sent to you to make an in person report.
