Reports of stolen vehicles in the county still ongoing

Everywhere in Lavaca County and the surrounding areas are being affected by reports of stolen vehicles. Officers are working diligently to mitigate these incidences.

“We’ve experienced a marked increase in the number of stolen vehicles in the last six months or so (in our county),” Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon said. “We attribute most of that to the cartels and human and drug trafficking with the open border situation that we’re dealing with. I’m not saying that every vehicle that’s stolen is stolen for smuggling purposes, but the vast majority of them are. These smugglers prefer larger four-wheel drive trucks to steal. Typically, what we see is that these (culprits) strip the backseat out of the truck so that they can stack more humans or narcotics.”

The Lavaca County Sheriff’s Office has been working with the Auto Theft Task Force, as well as the Crossroads HIDTA Task Force to apprehend the offenders involved in the motor vehicle thefts.

“We have not made any arrests so far,” Harmon said. “However, we are continuing to work with our surrounding counties including Gonzales, DeWitt, Caldwell, and Victoria. We’re not the only county that’s being affected by this.”

Multiple vehicles have been stolen from the surrounding counties and recovered. So far, in Lavaca County, there’s been seven reports of stolen vehicles with three being recovered. Compared to the surrounding counties, there’s been 14 reports in Caldwell County, five reports in Gonzales County, and six reports in DeWitt County

The most recent report of stolen trucks came in early April. Some cities in Lavaca County, including Shiner, have installed security cameras around the area to assist in investigations of these stolen vehicles.

“Months back, the Shiner area was getting hit with a bunch of stolen vehicles both inside the city limits and outside the city limits,” Harmon said. “So, we adjusted our patrol schedules and got more deputies out working overtime and saturating the area and that stopped. Then, next thing you know, we get calls from Colorado County that they’re getting a bunch of vehicles stolen. So, when we increase enforcement, the culprits just move somewhere else.”

The LCSO has also been coordinating with Operation Lone Star to put officer presence throughout the county. OLS works on large scale cartel cases and go after smuggling organizations that comes into Lavaca County.

It’s important to always watch your surroundings, according to Harmon.

“Some precautions people can take include parking their vehicles in an enclosed garage if they have it,” Harmon said. “If you don’t have that, don’t leave any valuables in it and lock up your vehicle. Also, if there’s an alarm on your vehicle, make sure that it’s activated.”

These stolen vehicles are an ongoing investigation and could happen in both the city limits or rural areas. So, make sure to be conscientious.