Warmer weather means car thieves will be busy in Tulsa

Spring time is prime car theft season. When the weather turns warmer, car thieves come out of hibernation. An average of 4,000 vehicles are stolen every year in Tulsa. <br><br>News on 6 crime reporter

Wednesday, March 10th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Spring time is prime car theft season. When the weather turns warmer, car thieves come out of hibernation. An average of 4,000 vehicles are stolen every year in Tulsa.

News on 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright shows us the city's auto theft hotspots.

Katie Kirby is a senior at Union High School and just bought her first car a few months ago, a 1988 Jeep Cherokee. But thieves took it from her Saturday night when she was in this neighborhood near 24th and Harvard watching a movie at a friend's house, they also broke into two other cars. "A huge pain. I have to find a new car while still paying for the Jeep. I'm a photography student so my camera was in there and all the stuff for my senior paper and clothes were in the car."

Car thieves can act fast, they don't have to be professionals to know how to get in and get gone. Katie had locked her Jeep and the keys weren't in it. She just never dreamed it would be a target. "There was a brand new Eclipse and a new Mitsubishi and Civic and I was why was mine stolen, I have an old car, they have new cars."

Police say the reason is because Jeeps are easy to hotwire. They believe these thieves were kids because in the other cars, a CD player was taken and a cell phone but other items were left behind, like credit cards, much more valuable. Just southwest of 41st and Garnett is the number one place in Tulsa to have your car stolen, followed by the area around 11th and Lewis and then, 81st and Lewis.

The good news is, most are found, the bad news is, they're rarely in the same shape. Katie only had liability insurance, so she's still making payments on the Jeep, even though it's gone. She hopes whoever took it, ditched it in a neighborhood and someone will spot it and return it.