SALT LAKE CITY — Stolen vehicles are a problem that much every city in Utah deals with .
sometimes the vehicles are recovered damaged at the end of a high-speed pursuit. sometimes they are found abandoned in the Jordan River. And sometimes a person ‘s cable car is recovered with apparently no damage done to it at all .
But even if physical damage is n’t visible, police are warning owners to get their vehicles checked for possible drug residue and then have them professionally cleaned .
“ Most of the time a car is stolen it is by person who has a drug habit or is involved in that hell. That ‘s equitable the type of people who steal cars, ” said Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell.

“ They will take the car and they will use it for their illegal activities, committing crimes. And sometimes they will live in the cable car for a period of time, and that means they are using drugs in the car. You ‘re risking exposure after you get your car back. You need to get it cleaned, ” added Salt Lake police detective Greg Wilking .
According to the 2014 Crime in Utah composition compiled by the state Bureau of Criminal Identification, a fomite is stolen in Utah approximately every 82 minutes. More than 6,300 drive fomite thefts were reported in Utah during 2014, according to the agency ‘s report .
Earlier this year, Salt Lake police reported 72 cars stolen from their city in just a span of 2 ½ weeks, and 202 were stolen in Salt Lake City from Dec. 4, 2015 to Jan. 3, 2016 .
While police will go through a person ‘s steal car after it is recovered to look for evidence related to the crime, what they wo n’t do is clean the vehicle before returning it to the owner .
“ We ‘re not a clean military service. unfortunately, you ‘re going to get the car binding in the condition we find it. We ‘re going to take what we need out of it and anything that does n’t belong to you. Your responsibility will be to clean that car, ” Bell said .
Wilking added that police departments besides do not test vehicles after they are recovered for levels of drug residue.

Based on the stream heroin epidemic facing America, he said there ‘s a good opportunity that whoever steals a car will besides smoke heroin or methamphetamine while using it .
“ We do have a drug problem. These drug users commit more crimes to fuel their habit. And part of that is using the drugs. And if they have your car, they ‘ll do it in your car, ” he said .
vaporization from methamphetamine, for model, can cling to surfaces and form into crystals, experts say. Those who come in liaison with such surfaces could ingest the meth through their hide or other ways .
When a stolen car is recovered and returned to an owner, Bell suggests the owner inaugural, while wearing a pair of gloves, give the car a good ocular inspection to make indisputable police detectives have n’t missed anything .
“ Do n’t reach your bridge player into places you ca n’t see, ” he advised .
next, use a potent vacuum to go through the car before wiping it down with something that will kill bacteria. then, get it inspect. Bell said while police are n’t finding many meth labs amply constructed at heart steal vehicles, they are finding people use meth and other drugs inside them.

The Utah Department of Health has a list of license decontamination specialists who can be used if a person suspects drug contaminant in their vehicle .
e-mail : preavy @ deseretnews.com
chirrup : DNewsCrimeTeam

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *