Auto Theft News

It is with great sadness that TAVTI/SCRC is notifying members that on the evening of June 23, 2009, a member of the Houston Police Department's Auto Theft/Burglary Unit was killed. Officer Henry Canales was working an undercover operation involving stolen televisions when he was shot and killed by a suspect, Roberto Pedroza Carrillo. Henry leaves behind a wife and two teenage children as well as many friends and family. Funeral services with full police honors will be held at Grace Community Church - South Campus (telephone number 713-363-2500), 14505 Gulf Freeway, Houston, Texas, on Monday, June 29, 2009, at 9:30 a.m. Burial will follow at Grandview Cemetery, 8501 Spencer Highway, Pasadena, Texas.

Please follow the links below to learn more about Officer Canales and his untimely death.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/19841727/detail.html

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6494499.html

Please keep Henry's family in your thoughts and prayers as well as the rest of the Houston Police Department. In addition, please keep Officer Ruben Lopez, a fellow TAVTI and task force member who was also directly involved in the shooting incident, in your thoughts and prayers as he, along with all members of his unit, struggles through this difficult time.

HB 1549, HB 3097, HB 3278 - relating to the creation, organization, duties and functions of the new Texas Department of Vehicles, which will incorporate the Texas Auto Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority, Motor Carrier Division, Motor Vehicle, and Vehicle Titles and Registration divisions currently within the Texas Department of Transportation.

HB 3760 - relating to the imposition of fees by agencies providing 68A inspections

From James Muñoz - KENS Channel 5
June 10th, 2009

Stolen tractor-trailers are hard to recover, unless you know what you are looking for. In Comal County, the sheriff's department recovers about 100 stolen tractor-trailers every year. Every week, authorities confiscate two stolen tractor-trailers along I-35 in Comal County. On Tuesday (June 9, 2009), detectives intercepted a stolen trailer from Canada.

Detective John Bailey (Travis Co. Sheriffs' Combined Auto Theft Task Force) said crooks steal trailers all the time, then change the serial numbers and use the trailers to make money. The 42,000 pounds of mangoes found inside one stolen trailer had to be picked up by another truck.

"Well, now I have their trailer, and I have their mangoes. What they had to do is they ended up having to pay another broker to come and haul their load. Plus the Department of Agriculture had to come out, since it came in from another country. So it's quite an expense to them, " Bailey said.

So the long arm of the law is always watching I-35 through New Braunfels. And Bailey is always teaching other officers how to spot stolen tractor-trailers.

"We're trying to educate other officers, to get them more familiar. The more eyes out there looking for this type of thing, then hopefully the less profitable it will be for the guys that deal with this," he said.

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the on-line availability of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) as of January 30, 2009, to help protect states and consumers from automobile fraud and to provide law enforcement with new tools to investigate fraud, theft, and other vehicle crimes. Please find the press release and fact sheet below.

During the last SCRC Conference, held in Corpus Christi shortly after Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coast near Galveston, TAVTI held a raffle in which the proceeds, which normally go to the scholarship fund, were directed instead to a fund for auto theft personnel who had suffered major losses to their primary residence because of the hurricane. Joe Brosius, who is a member of IAATI and attended the Corpus Christi conference, started the ball rolling when he contacted the Western States Auto Theft Investigators (Northern & Northwest Chapters), the Arizona Auto Theft Investigators Association and the British Columbia Association Auto Theft Investigators and advised them of our aid fund. The information was also forwarded to several other chapters and as it stands now, they have donated $1,800.00 to the fund. I cannot tell you how much this means to me. It shows just how close auto theft people are. We are like one big family. If one of our own is in trouble or needs help, help is just a call away. Fortunately, we had plenty of money in the scholarship fund, and four scholarships were also awarded.

I want to thank everyone who either bought a raffle ticket at the conference in Corpus Christi or contributed to the fund through donations. Every little bit helps.

"I would like to THANK YOU, the TAVTI / SCRC Board and general membership, for your expression of generosity towards my family and I. You really do not realize how many friends you have until a disaster like IKE happens. Everyone’s words of encouragement and kindness have really helped us through a tough time. A BIG THANK YOU also goes out to our friends at WSATI and Arizona . We are truly a family and take care of our own to the best of our ability. All the thoughts and prayers and acts of kindness have not been forgotten. My family and I will not forget what the association has done for us and you (TAVTI/SCRC) will be in our hearts forever. Again, THANK YOU and if I have left anyone out please give them my personal THANKS as well.

Sincerely,
Danny Sheppard and Family"

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"Danny’s thoughts could not have been said any better. I too wish to share the comments made by Danny. TAVTI and IAATI have truly been like family to me as well. Danny informed me of the decision made by the board concerning our personal issues from Hurricane Ike. The day it was announced in Corpus as to what the members were doing, I was humbled. God bless you all.

►TRUCKS ARE TEXAS THIEVES' TOP PICK IN 2008
(Compiled from the 2008 Texas DPS MVT 19 Reports)

The Texas Department of Public Safety has released its final MVT19 report on the top vehicles reported stolen in Texas during 2008, and as has been the case for several years, pickups held the top spots. The Ford pickup came in at No. 1, and coming in at a close No. 2 is the Chevrolet Pickup. In the No. 3 position, the Dodge Pickup remained a popular target for Texas thieves. Rounding out the top five is the Honda Accord and Honda Civic. The complete top ten list includes:

►TEXAS AUTO THEFT DECLINES IN 2007
(Compiled from the 2007 "Crime in Texas" Texas DPS Uniform Crime Report)

The Texas Department of Public Safety recently released the official "2007 Crime in Texas" uniform crime report. The report shows that in 2007, 95,750 vehicles were stolen in Texas - a 1.8 percent decrease from 2006. Monetary losses resulting from the crime totaled $859,745,598. This reflects a 4.5 percent decrease versus the 2006 monetary loss. The 2007 motor vehicle theft rate for Texas was 393 thefts for every 100,000 people.

In 2007, more vehicle thefts occurred in August than any other month. The average dollar loss per vehicle was $9,677, and of the vehicles stolen, 58 percent were automobiles, 32 percent were trucks/buses, and the remaining 10 percent were classified as "other" vehicles.

During 2007, 67 percent of vehicles reported stolen were recovered in one form or another. Of those recovered, 74 percent were stolen locally and recovered locally, and the remaining 26 percent were stolen locally and recovered by another jurisdiction.

Law enforcement arrested 7,108 persons for motor vehicle theft. Of the arrestees, 14 percent were juveniles, 86 percent were male, 37 percent were White, 28 percent were Black, and 34 percent were Hispanic. The age group with the most arrests was the 15 to 19 year-old age group. The arrest clearance rate was 13 percent.

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►FBI REPORTS 2007 NATIONAL AUTO THEFT DECREASE
(As extracted from the FBI 2006 Uniform Crime Report)

Motor vehicle thefts declined in 2007, says the FBI. The 2007 FBI Uniform Crime Report (UCR) states that 2007 motor vehicle thefts in the United States totaled 1,095,769. This reflects an 8.1 percent decrease from 2006 totals.

The National Equipment Register (NER), a national database of equipment theft and ownership records, has announced the creation of a ‘Stolen Equipment Tip Line’ (866- NER-TIPS). The tip line provides a way for anyone with information about stolen equipment to help combat a growing problem for equipment owners.

David Shillingford, president of NER, explained that “although our primary purpose is to respond to inquiries from law enforcement, we have sometimes received calls from concerned citizens who have information about suspicious equipment. This type of call increased dramatically in 2005 and the ‘Stolen Equipment Tip Line’ is designed to encourage more of these calls and reward the caller where appropriate.”

As an example of the concept, Shillingford described a case in 2005 when an equipment buyer in Mississippi was being offered a Caterpillar D-5-LGP dozer below market value from someone who said that they were affiliated with FEMA. Although he was interested in buying the dozer, the potential buyer called NER first and learned that the equipment was stolen. Not only was this machine recovered, but further investigation based on this call led to the recovery of eight other machines worth over $350,000.

Under certain conditions rewards will be paid. Rewards have recently been paid to callers from California and New York for information that led to recoveries.

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The Ford Fleet web page provides free Ford VIN Guides for model years 2000 - 2008. The VIN Guides are produced in Adobe Acrobat PDF files and can be easily downloaded. Visit the site at:

https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/vin_tools/default.asp#

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