With so many people working from home, and keeping their cars parked near home, car thieves in the District have found easier targets during the pandemic: Auto thefts in DC are up 33 percent so far this year compared to 2019.
But if you happen to drive for a service like UberEats, Caviar, or Instacart, take note: The Metropolitan Police Department and DC’s DMV are warning of a new trend. Thieves are preying on delivery drivers who cart groceries, takeout, and toilet paper to people’s homes, then leave their cars running while they run the goods up to the front door.
Of the roughly 330 cars that were filched in the city over the past month, 39 percent were idling and unattended at the time, according to a spokesperson for MPD, and 48 percent had keys left inside the vehicle.
The hardest-hit area, according to the MPD spokesperson, was the Second District, which covers Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, Glover Park, Spring Valley, Friendship Heights, and other far-Northwest neighborhoods.
After that, the Third District, which includes Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and Logan Circle. Not far behind was the Seventh District, which covers Anacostia, Congress Heights, and other SE DC neighborhoods.
Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonian’s features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.
