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Honda Owners On Edge In El Paso
POSTED: 6:53 pm MDT May 17,
2008
UPDATED: 7:16 am MDT May 19,
2008
EL PASO, Texas -- Car thieves in El Paso are looking for specific makes and models. Honda Accords and Civics from the 1990s , Jeep Wranglers and motorcycles are disappearing. It’s something one family knows all to well. Erika Calzadilla parked her 1995 Honda Civic in front of her apartment last week. It’s a car she will never see again.“It was within an hour. I asked the neighbors if they saw my car at 5:30 in the morning. I walked out at 6:45 and it was gone,” she said.Police tell KFOX Calzadilla is not alone. Over the last few months they have seen a dramatic increase in thefts of Honda Civics and Accords. Jeep Wranglers and motorcycles are also being stolen. The thieves are not necessarily interested in the car itself police said.“What investigators tell us is that these vehicles are two to three times the value of the car as a whole when they are parted out,” said Darell Petry of the El Paso Police Department.It’s for that reason Calzadilla isn’t optimistic about seeing her Civic parked here again.“I had rims. They are going to take apart the rims and the v-tech engine. They will use what the can,” she said.As a mother of a toddler, not having a car is a huge inconvenience. Calzadilla said when she does save up enough money she isn’t planning on replacing the Civic.“I rather get a 1976 minivan. I think it’s sad that you invest so much money and someone just takes it away," she said.El Paso police say one in four of all cars stolen in our area was unattended with the keys in the ignition. That’s a crime punishable by a $500 fine and even jail time.
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