More Cars Stolen and Dumped In Benton County
BENTON COUNTY -- Stolen, stripped and dumped. KEPR Action News found cars ending up at chop shops in Benton County.
Action News has tracked this issue for more than a year, and found it's still a problem.
Action Towing gets the call after police find what's left of the car.
"The trend is actually growing, a lot of folks are parking a lot of abandoned cars on different properties," said Mike Levin with Action Towing.
The company says it picks up about three stripped and dumped cars each month, but this is just one company. All towing companies rotate with police agencies for who's on call for a pick-up.
Action Towing showed Action News a Honda that was stripped of all valuables, including the seats and electronics.
Just this weekend the Benton County Sheriff's Department says it found a car dumped on NW Roza Road in Benton County. The engine was gone.
It's the third car stolen from Hermiston, stripped, and dumped in Benton County in the last three weeks.
The Sheriff's Department says the hot spot is the west end of the county.
"In many cases there won't be street lights and then the rural areas where the homes may be as much as a mile or two separating them," Deputy Joe Lusignan said.
Action News pulled the stats and found in the last six-months there have been 29 cars dumped in Benton County.
That is nearly double from the same time period last year.
One stolen car was even fished out of a canal, making it even tougher for police to catch the criminals behind it.
Police need your help to put a stop to this, and here's an easy tip: only tow trucks can tow at night.
If you see anyone else hauling a car in the wee hours, chances are, they're up to no good.
Your quick tip might stop the next car from being stripped and dumped.
KEPR Action News went a step further to see how big this problem is in the Tri-Cities.
We found there are more cars dumped in Benton than in Franklin County.
In fact, Franklin County had 20 cars dumped in the last year while Benton had 29 in just six months.
Action News has tracked this issue for more than a year, and found it's still a problem.
Action Towing gets the call after police find what's left of the car.
"The trend is actually growing, a lot of folks are parking a lot of abandoned cars on different properties," said Mike Levin with Action Towing.
The company says it picks up about three stripped and dumped cars each month, but this is just one company. All towing companies rotate with police agencies for who's on call for a pick-up.
Action Towing showed Action News a Honda that was stripped of all valuables, including the seats and electronics.
Just this weekend the Benton County Sheriff's Department says it found a car dumped on NW Roza Road in Benton County. The engine was gone.
It's the third car stolen from Hermiston, stripped, and dumped in Benton County in the last three weeks.
The Sheriff's Department says the hot spot is the west end of the county.
"In many cases there won't be street lights and then the rural areas where the homes may be as much as a mile or two separating them," Deputy Joe Lusignan said.
Action News pulled the stats and found in the last six-months there have been 29 cars dumped in Benton County.
That is nearly double from the same time period last year.
One stolen car was even fished out of a canal, making it even tougher for police to catch the criminals behind it.
Police need your help to put a stop to this, and here's an easy tip: only tow trucks can tow at night.
If you see anyone else hauling a car in the wee hours, chances are, they're up to no good.
Your quick tip might stop the next car from being stripped and dumped.
KEPR Action News went a step further to see how big this problem is in the Tri-Cities.
We found there are more cars dumped in Benton than in Franklin County.
In fact, Franklin County had 20 cars dumped in the last year while Benton had 29 in just six months.
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