Bethesda residents are seeing some unusual things as the crime spike of the last two years continues to plague Montgomery County. County police have established a "resource room" at Westfield Montgomery Mall after 9 people were assaulted there over the summer, a new Trader Joe's added deployable window coverings at the front of the store, and as of last night, cars are physically blocking all of the exits at EuroMotorcars in Bethesda during the overnight hours.
According to Montgomery County police, four vehicles were stolen from the dealership on one night in late August. Stealing cars from Montgomery County dealerships has been a trend during this crime wave. The most hard-hit area so far has been on MD 355, between Wintergreen Plaza and Derwood.
25 comments:
Bethesda is becoming the new Downtown Silver Spring. The lost city. Give it a few more years and you'll see. Crime rampant..
Robert,
Your posting on this is very appreciated. Can I make a suggestion? Can you contact the dealership or police and ask them exactly how these vehicles, especially new ones right off the lot, are being stolen? The public really needs to know how this is happening. Are the thieves gaining access to key fobs? Are they using widely available electronic hacking devices that steal the key fob data right out of thin air? How? Thank you!
If they are stealing cars, then won't those cars that are "blocking" the rest from getting stolen, get stolen as well?
Mechanics remove a few key parts from the engine, making these vehicles inoperable and very difficult to steal, and are often used to block driveways.
Reality has hit the abstract.
As 5:43 AM said, Bethesda is becoming the new Silver Spring and it's a real shame. If we're at the point that a Mercedes Dealer has to block its lot to deter cars from being stolen, it clearly shows a public safety failure by MoCo Leadership.
@6:37 AM: Maybe they removed the batteries from the blocking cars so they can't be started? Of course, it doesn't prevent them from being rolled out of the way if they're broken into and the parking brakes are disconnected.
This is so pathetic. I can't believe we're at this point.
Robert: You are doing an excellent job reporting on this. Thank you!
Google relay theft. Nobody needs a key these days with proximity keys. Sad because manufactures know about the weaknesses.
7:35 - And some car makers are combatting this but clearly not quickly enough.
The blockades won't stop the most determined auto thief but will make it more difficult to get away and give second thoughts to some. You'd think all the alarms triggered would lead to a quick police response.
Bethesda is the new Silver Spring. Nailed it.
authentic posts.... nailed it.
Got away from Silver Spring only to be back in Silver Spring 2.0. We need more police in the area. Thanks to the libs and the slew of woke culture. We are not safe. Protect and arm yourself.
The most frustrating thing is that local media is not or will not ask car experts at dealerships or elsewhere exactly how these cars are being stolen. Shouldn't someone do that so that the public is informed? Isn't that what the news media is designed to do? My gosh!
Ask the questions already.
@4:32 AM: Exactly right. Take the steps you need to arm and protect yourself because the MoCo Council just won't do what's needed. The longer this goes on, the more emboldened the criminals will become. This is just the beginning, and it's going to get worse without a substantial increase in policing and police resources.
@5:20 AM: Yup. Robert is the only one who's bringing any attention to this. The local media just isn't interested in holding the clowns on the MoCo Council accountable for their public safety failures.
In 2019, there were 914 Motor Vehicle Thefts in MoCo.
In 2020, there were 1,178 Motor Vehicle Thefts in MoCo.
In 2021, there were 1,444 Motor Vehicle Thefts in MoCo.
For 2022: "As of June 6, there have been 511 auto thefts in the county this year, according to police spokesperson Carlos Cortes-Vazquez." (https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/06/10/county-police-launch-program-to-help-decrease-auto-thefts/)
Elrich defeated Blair, who ran on a strong public safety platform, by 32 votes in the Primary. Based on the above stats, a lot of Elrich voters had their cars stolen in the past few years and they simply didn't care. It wasn't enough for them to vote for someone different.
5:20, Unless you own a dealership, or have your personal car temporarily at one, why do you need to know details of how dealerships' cars are being stolen?
Wouldn't such public discussions only educate more (actual or potential) thieves?
Unless it's something that also applies to your own car, parked on the street or in your own driveway or garage, and that hasn't already been discussed in the press.
The smell of weed present in every neighborhood; cars and catalytic converters stolen nightly around the county with no police response; a sitting councilman says for the first time he doesn't feel safe in downtown Silver Spring. This is 2022.
8:17 - Why do we need to know how? Because it's newsworthy. This is a huge problem. The public need not know how cars are being taken but simply that they are being taken? Huh? Does this apply to only new cars on a lot? Of course not. No, the local TV news has not interviewed any car expert about the way or ways in which these vehicles are simply being driven away from your new car lot or your driveway. It's the same thing with newer vehicles which around here are many. They all have key fobs that emit an FCC licensed signal. Silly comment saying, essentially, who cares.
9:36, Read the last sentence of my comment.
If it's a key fob or other issue that affects many people's own cars, sure. If not, again, why do you need to know?
If someone, some night, bypasses a Bethesda bank's security system and steals money, and you're not a customer of that bank (or, your deposit there is insured), why would you personally need to know how that was done?
10:38 - Rampant motor vehicle theft in Bethesda and surrounding is not only newsworthy, the manner in which they are being stolen is as well. It doesn't matter if it applies to you or not. Rather, it matters to the community at-large. There may be an expert who can discuss the manner and can make suggestions for consumers and businesses alike to avoid it happening to you.
Why do people keep voting democrat
Are they brainwashed in a cult ?
Look - I’m not or at least was never a hard core gop
I grew up in a family of democrats
1st generation immigrants
All family now votes gop because they are SANE
401k dropping, gas unaffordable, housing losing value, crime rising food prices soaring - at what point are you so fixated on having your children being indoctrinated by teachers unions that you have to vote democrat?
Life was great under Trump and you ALL know it
Ps Black lives we’re doing better under trump
5:37 - Spot on accurate. These stupid people (and they're smart so it makes no sense) would vote Dem up and down the ballot no matter what. We do have a choice and Sully Reardon should be hammering this everyday.
@5:37 PM: Very well said.
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