Loosen the Lugnuts and sp Lit.

It’s the crime that never seems to go away in Preston Hollow — auto accessory thefts on high-end SUVs. And many times it involves the theft of rims and wheels

The Crime: Auto accessory theft

Date: Monday, June 17

Time: Between 10 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.

Location: 6300 block of Prestonshire and your vehicle left sitting on blocks. This is what happened to Windy Koehler one early morning. After stepping outside for a few minutes, her son came inside to tell her the bad news. The Cadillac Escalade parked in the front driveway was missing all four tires and rims. It was a frustrating moment for sure.

“It’s creepy knowing that someone has done that to your car,” she says. “Insurance will cover it, but you hate to go through the hassle.”

Koehler says she had forgotten to pull the car into the garage. This is not the first time accessories have been stolen from her car. Two years ago, someone smashed a window and stole the third-row seat, another frequent target of thieves.

“We had it on video, but it was too dark to make out who it was,” she says. “It only took them about 15 or 30 seconds to climb in and remove the seat.”

Koehler says her Cadillac dealership told her it would take a few days to get her SUV back in its proper order. It was backed up because of a shortage on parts because of other similar thefts.

Dallas Police Lt. Richard Dwyer of the North Central Patrol Division says six reports of auto accessory thefts have been reported this year in Koehler’s area through June 17, and the property taken in these cases is split between tires/rims and tailgates. Other parts of Preston Hollow also have experienced these crimes.

“Prevention of these types of offenses is difficult,” he says. “On expensive rims, owners may wish to have them etched on the inside when they are bought [with identifying information]. In addition, there are a number of car alarm systems that are motion activated that car owners may purchase. Installing some type of outdoor lighting is another step people can take to decrease the odds of theft occurring during the night.”

Amount of money a gloved burglar ran away with on July 7 after he allegedly broke into the Liberty Burger in the 5000 block of Forest, ran over to a bolted-down safe at about 9 a.m., and took off after realizing it was impenetrable

$2,000

Block of Royal where a thief allegedly stole a 2007 Ford F-150 valued at $30,000 between the hours of 8:30 p.m. July 6 and 4 a.m. July 7

Amount of damage an unknown person allegedly did to the front of a resident’s Ford Taurus in the 4000 block of Northaven at about 1 a.m. July 6

Source: Dallas Police Department