MIAMI VALLEY — Vandalia police chased down three teens in a car that had been reported stolen last week, just one instance of an uptick in car thefts across the Miami Valley.
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News Center 7′s Mike Campbell spoke with authorities and victims about the impact of these thefts.
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Deidre Harvey and her husband Justin had both their calls stolen out of their driveway.
“He said, ‘where’s our cars?’ And I was like ‘stop playing with me, it’s not funny.’ I walk over and both cars are gone.” Deidre said.
Deidre had recently bought a 2024 Hyundai and her husband had a pickup. The couple contacted Clark County deputies and tracked Deidre’s vehicle.
They saw that the car had stopped moving, parked outside an apartment.
The Vandalia Police went to the apartments and located the car, following it to a car wash down the street. Three juveniles got out of the car and ran.
“Fortunately we had a number of detectives and uniformed officers in the area that we were able to apprehend the teens,” Chief Kurt Althouse said.
The Harveys are now driving a rental, fearing they may be targets of the car theft ring again. They are preparing to pay thousands in repairs to the cars, and are missing personal items from both vehicles.
“All my grandma’s stuff was gone. It was all in my trunk,” Deidre said. “They took everything.”
Of the juveniles arrested, one was 15, the other two were 16, according to Vandalia detectives.
Detectives believe these same teens were involved in at least a half-dozen other car thefts.
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