ENUMCLAW, Wash. — More than 24,000 vehicles have been reported stolen statewide so far this year, according to the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force.
It is having an impact on police departments, big and small.
Enumclaw is a small, close-knit community, according to Police Chief Tim Floyd.
"We have historically been rated as one of the top safest cities in the state,” said Chief Floyd. "Anytime we have any kind of uptick in crime in our community everybody knows about it."
Right now, there is a focus on stolen vehicles.
"We had a grand total of 36 cars stolen last year. Today we are already at that number,” Chief Floyd said.
Thirteen of those vehicles were stolen in the last month with most of the reports coming from Fugate Ford.
Seven cars were stolen from the car dealership last week, according to Kevin Kranc, a partner at Fugate Ford. Kranc adds that a group of burglars also damaged the building during the robbery.
“They took a baseball bat and busted a window, and went through and ransacked the inside of the dealership, stole every little thing they could possibly find,” he said.
Two KIAs were among the vehicles taken from the Enumclaw lot.
"One has been recovered before today. And we just got notified an hour or so ago the second has been recovered in Seattle,” said Kranc.
"It is frustrating for sure,” said Chief Floyd. "It is not just Enumclaw, it is everybody."
The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force reports the number of stolen vehicles in July reached 642 in Pierce County, and there were nearly 1,700 reports in King County.
In Enumclaw, the police chief says most of the recent stolen vehicle cases involved juveniles.
"Two of them we have booked twice, so we book them, they get right back out, they commit another crime, we arrest them, we book them again,” said Chief Floyd.
"These are major crimes. I mean the one night was $200,000 worth of vehicles,” said Kranc. "The expense part is terrible, but it is the fear of the future expense that is even worse."