VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Rich Rosa: Many local residents are finding their cars ransacked and damaged due to criminal activity. Syracuse student Alexis McNabb lives in an area where car thefts are common. She says earlier this year, her car was stolen.
Alexis McNabb: I know they mentioned something about they can get an iPad and hook that up to something in front of your car, stick the machine or cord in there. And that’s essentially how they turned it on. Pretty honestly. Pretty simple stuff.
Rosa: Car break-ins and thefts have become more prominent in the city over the last few years. Many people like McNabb have taken precautions to keep their car safe. Syracuse police told McNabb there is new technology that allows criminals to steal cars.
McNabb: They definitely have been doing this for a while. They kind of know what they’re doing and how to get around it, but I’ve done what I need to do, you know, save myself and my car and my safety. And I hope that other people kind of start taking those measures.
Rosa: According to Syracuse police, the total number of stolen vehicles has risen since 2020. 2020, five-hundred and eighteen 2021; five-hundred and sixty-eight 2022; six-hundred and twenty-four 2023; one thousand one-hundred and thirty; and 2024, one thousand two-hundred and seventy. As of March 17th, 2025, there have been one hundred and six stolen vehicles reported to Syracuse PD. Syracuse student Shariden Truly woke up one morning to her car window shattered. Truly owns a Kia, which is a common car brand that often gets targeted. She says she was unaware of the high rates of car break-ins in the city.
Shariden Truly: When I got there and I started talking to people that live there, they were like, yeah, girl, like people are breaking into cars over here. And so I will say that I always like, paranoid about that in the back of my mind, because I do drive a Kia and the Kia boys are known for like getting people and them like in Hyundais and Kias.
Rosa: Many local residents wonder why this is happening. According to Syracuse PD, there is no definite reason behind these incidents. They have also said these acts tend to be random, but with the city having a high poverty rate, the stealing and selling of car parts are a small percentage of why this may occur. In Syracuse, Rich Rosa, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — From stolen valuables to shattered glass, car break-ins and thefts are on the rise, with criminals targeting neighborhoods across the city.
Some residents are finding their cars ransacked and damaged.
Syracuse University student Alexis McNabb lives in the university area, where car thefts are common.
McNabb said that earlier this year, her car was stolen. When she woke up, she noticed it was gone.
“Thankfully, my car has an app so I can see where my car is. So that’s how I knew. Okay, at least I can tell where it is. I know somebody did take it,” McNabb said, who then called the police.
Syracuse Police found her car a half mile away from where she was, and one of the windows was broken.
The police told McNabb there is new technology that allows criminals to steal cars.
“I know [the police] mentioned something about they can get an iPad and hook that up to something in front of your car, stick the machine or cord in there. And that’s essentially how they turned it on,” McNabb said.
Car break-ins and thefts have become more prominent in the city over the last few years.
According to Syracuse police, the total number of stolen vehicles has risen since 2020. In 2020, 568 cars were stolen, and 1,270 were stolen in 2024. As of March 17, 2025, there have been 106 stolen vehicles reported to the Syracuse Police Department.
The total number of stolen vehicles reported by the Syracuse Police Department since 2020. © 2025 Rich Rosa
McNabb has taken precautions to keep her car safe.
“They kind of know what they’re doing and how to get around it, but I’ve done what I need to do, you know, save myself and my car and my safety. And I hope that other people kind of start taking those measures,” McNabb said.
McNabb added a security system to the car, along with a steering wheel lock, and got all her windows tinted. The steering wheel lock provides another set of protection.
Shariden Truly, also an SU student, woke up one morning to learn her car window was shattered. Truly’s friend sent her pictures of the busted windows.
Truly owns a Kia, which is a common car brand that often gets targeted, according to Syracuse police.
She said she was unaware of the high rates of car break-ins in the city.
“When I got there and I started talking to people that live there, they were like, yeah, girl, like people are breaking into cars over here. And so, I will say that I was always like paranoid about that in the back of my mind because I do drive a Kia,” Truly said.
Truly said she was not shocked when the break-in happened because people told her about it being a recurring problem. She also mentioned that the “Kia boys” were in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is from.
According to Syracuse Police, there is no definite reason behind these incidents.
They have also said these acts tend to be random. Syracuse has a high poverty rate, and people are trying to get by financially. The stealing and selling of car parts are a small percentage of why car break-ins may occur, according to police.