Slight Uptick In Vehicle Crimes Reported By Fairfax City Police

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Like other localities in the D.C.-metro region, the City of Fairfax has seen a slight uptick this summer in vehicle-related crimes, according to Sgt. Brock Rutter, a public information officer with the city's police department.

"It's definitely not just a Fairfax City thing, all our other regional partners, communities, and law enforcement agencies are experiencing the same thing right now," Rutter said. "It's unfortunate, especially with us being so close to Washington, D.C. Whenever there is a stolen vehicle, more times than not that stolen vehicle ends up in Washington, D.C. ... In our experience, the majority of the cars that happen to be stolen ended up being recovered."

In January, 10 vehicle-related crimes were reported compared to the 14 and 18 reported in June and July, respectively. It's not just the warm weather that's to blame. Rutter said that juveniles tended to be the ones committing these types of crimes. With school out in the summer months, there's more opportunities for them to be out and about and "getting into mischief."

With the majority of the city's vehicle crimes occurring at night, few people are awake to witness the incidents. However, Rutter said police have been able to identify people or patterns of behavior captured by Ring or Nest surveillance cameras.

"Usually, there's somebody driving some sort of vehicle and then there's one, two, or three people on foot going around, just weaving, zigzaging, and checking all the cars that they can," Rutter said.

One unfortunate side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is that many times the people captured on video over the last year pulling on door handles at night are wearing face masks.

"Even on a Ring camera, it's hard to really get a good ID on somebody," he said. "The Ring cameras are usually too far away to get any kind of tag on the vehicle that they might be driving. Nine times out of 10, the vehicle they're driving, the tag that's displayed is a stolen tag anyway."

In the vast majority of vehicle thefts reported in the city, the suspects aren't breaking windows to gain access or hot-wiring cars. They are accessing vehicles that are unlocked.

The most effective method for city residents to protect their cars from being stolen, vandalized, or having items taken from them is to lock them at night.

"It's just something as simple as getting into a routine and a habit on a daily basis of locking that vehicle before your head hits the pillow at night," he said.

Rutter has his own nightly ritual. When he takes his dog out for walk before going to bed, he makes sure to stop next to his car.

"Essentially, I'm checking the door handles of both of my cars in my driveway, while my dog is peeing," he said. "It's almost like I'm brushing my teeth. It's something that I do every single night."

Fairfax City residents whose vehicle has been stolen or who wish to report another vehicle-related crime should call the police department's non-emergency number at 703-385-7924.

Below is a map showing the vehicle crimes reported by the City of Fairfax Police since the beginning of the year. These include stolen vehicle (yellow), stolen vehicle recovery (blue), vehicle tampering (green), larceny from a vehicle (red), vandalism of a vehicle (black), and suspicious event (gray) incidents. In some cases, multiple vehicles were involved. The map also includes crimes in which motorcycles, bicycles, and a Segway were involved. Click on the icon to reveal the facts of each case as described in the police department's daily crime report. Unless a specific location is noted, incidents occurred in the "XX00 block of" the street given.