Car Thefts Up in Midtown This Year

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Atlanta police are urging Midtown residents to be extra careful when parking their cars around the neighborhood due to a spike in car thefts this year.

According to the latest figures available from police (through July 11), there have been 258 car thefts reported in Midtown’s Zone 5 so far this year. This is a four percent increase in the rate since this time last yer, when 248 cars had been stolen.

Police have only been able to arrest 11 car theft suspects in Zone 5 so far this year, down 58 percent from the 26 car theft arrests that had been made at this time in 2014. Police have recovered 99 of the 258 cars reported stolen this year, a 9 percent decrease from the number of recovered cars at this time last year.

Other serious crimes are also on the rise in Zone 5; there has been a 50 percent increase in the murder rate, a 156 percent increase in reported rapes, a 48 percent increase in reported aggravated assaults, and an eight percent increase in reported burglaries, the data shows.