More News

Beltsville, College Park see airbag theft spike

Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006

Following a statewide trend, Beltsville and College Park residents have seen a rash of stolen airbags this month.

Although airbags are a hot commodity on the street, Prince George’s County District VI Police Sgt. Eric Wooleyhand said Beltsville has seen a sharp increase in stolen airbags in the first weeks of 2006.

In Beltsville, four airbags were stolen from 2004 and 2005 Honda Civic make vehicles between Jan. 10 and Jan. 13.

‘‘We see airbags stolen all the time, but not as consistently as the last two weeks,” Wooleyhand said. ‘‘Somebody has got to know a lot about cars to do this.”

County police do not keep statistics on stolen airbags, but City Councilwoman Joseline Peña-Melynk (Dist.4) said she has heard complaints from West College Park residents. ‘‘I have heard of at least eight or nine [stolen airbags] in the College Park Woods area alone,” Peña-Melynk said.

Chris Scripture, service manager at College Park Honda on Route 1, said his dealership has noticed the local spike in airbag thefts.

Two weeks ago, Scripture said, four customers needed to have stolen airbags replaced.

‘‘We see this kind of thing all the time,” Scripture said. ‘‘It’s so simple. ... The driver-side airbag comes off with only two screws. It’s super quick to get [the airbags] and sell them for big dollars.”

Scripture and Beltsville body shop owners said a driver-side and passenger-side airbag were more valuable if they are stolen and sold together. On the street, body shop owners said a single airbag is sold for $150 to $200. A pair of airbags usually sells for $500, said Howard Smith, owner of Smitty’s Contemporary Automotive in Beltsville.

‘‘I have guys come by and try to sell hot [stolen] airbags,” Smith said. ‘‘It certainly takes someone with talent and know-how to get those things off.”

If the airbags are removed correctly, body shop owners can buy them and make more than $1,000 profit, Smith said.

Replacing a stolen airbag, Scripture said, costs about $1,500. After a car accident, which can damage or destroy airbag sensors and the main control unit, the cost can be more than $2,400.

In three of the four incidents in Beltsville, the perpetrator broke the right rear window. In two cases, the batteries were disconnected, disabling the alarm systems before the airbags were stolen.

Scripture said Honda’s anti-theft devices, including immobilizer locks, have made it more difficult for thieves to steal Honda vehicles in recent years. ‘‘They don’t steal the car anymore, so they say, ‘We’ll just take the airbag instead,’” he said.

It is almost impossible to catch the perpetrators, since airbags are not labeled with the vehicle identification number. ‘‘They are virtually untraceable,” Scripture said.

The incidents in Beltsville and College Park mimic the trend in Howard County, where 17 airbags have been stolen from Honda Civics and Accords since October.

Insurance industry statistics show about 50,000 airbags are stolen nationwide each year, resulting in a loss of more than $50 million to car owners and their insurers.

Frank Scafidi, spokesman for the Illinois-based National Insurance Crime Bureau, said there is a strong demand for cheap airbags among some unscrupulous repair shops.

‘‘If you have a shop that does a lot of auto repair sort of fast and loose and operates on the borders of rules and regulations,” using stolen airbags would be profitable, Scafidi said. ‘‘If you’ve got that amount of money floating around for one item, people can charge a few thousand dollars after paying just a few hundred for [a stolen airbag].”

Wooleyhand said the District VI police department gives out The Club, an anti-theft device that locks the steering wheel, to county residents every month. ‘‘We’re starting to get more and more people come in and ask for [The Club] since the airbag thefts” began, he said. So far this month, the station has handed out 14 Clubs, which Wooleyhand said ‘‘is more than normal.”

Peña-Melynk said residents in her district are scheduled to meet with local Neighborhood Watch programs, hoping to deter would-be thieves who strike in the early hours of the morning. ‘‘It is really difficult because of the lack of police,” she said. ‘‘I think all we can do is be vigilant and make people more aware of how we can protect ourselves.”

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.