NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — At a law enforcement meeting this week, agencies from around the mid-state gathered to discuss ways to combat juvenile crime, which agencies surrounding Nashville have said they have seen spread into their cities.
Metro Police say they are seeing more teens use stolen vehicles to commit robberies with a technique called the "bump and rob."
"It's unfortunate, we now have a term called the 'bump and rob'," said Lt. Blaine Whited with the Metro Police Juvenile Crimes Task Force. "Who would have thought of that? Now you have a simple 'I've left my car running to warm up, or to run into the convenience store for a second,' the youth takes that car and now they use it as a weapon and go bump into someone so they can rob them of their property and their vehicle, so it just escalates. It goes from something that was once viewed as a simple crime, that is now becoming something that's more frequent and violent for these youth."
Metro Police say many car thefts that lead to larger crimes can be prevented by following these simple steps.
Police say if your vehicle is hit from behind, call the police and stay in the car with your doors locked, and do not roll down your window.
