Cars stolen and stripped in Hampton

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - Hampton Police are on the lookout for the individuals responsible for stealing at least three Hondas and stripping them bare of all valuable parts.

10 On Your Side first brought the story to light Wednesday, when a Hampton man told WAVY.com his 2000 Honda Civic SI was stolen on the evening of Jan. 11 on Londonshire Terrace. It was found the next day d itched on Burton Road about two miles from home, stripped of its engine, seats, wiring and more.

WAVY.com looked into two additional cases from viewers who contacted the station about their Honda Civics getting stolen and stripped.

 According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau Honda Accord and Honda Civic remain the most stolen vehicles in America.  

In January 2011, Susan Marple's car stolen and stripped and last October a car was stolen from Falcon Creek Luxury Apartments then stripped.  

"I'm surprised. I feel for these victims," Mary Shackelford with the Hampton Police Division told WAVY.com. "A lot of these parts are interchangeable with one another. If they are rebuilding the car, they are taking these parts from these stolen cars and using the parts to possibly rebuild another car."

Marple said her car had been wiped down with oil to remove prints.

"I think it is ridiculous," Marple said. "It has been going on this long and no one has figured out who has done it.

"I am not able to go into her case whether finger prints were removed or were not removed or how they were taken," Shackelford said. "We don't want to say that for future investigation purposes."

However, the greasing down is an indication the stripping is obviously done by professionals who know exactly what they are doing. 

"They are able to defeat the security measure... the locks... defeating the ignition," Shackelford said. "They have a lot of knowledge of this type of vehicles."

Shackelford said she cannot say  whether the three cases are related because of the two-year time lapse.

Police recommend writing down serial numbers from the parts on your car, especially the engine, and keep the numbers inside your home.

Call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP if you can help in this investigation.