Drivers, listen up. Temperatures are on the rise and car thefts are, too. Auto-theft investigators are reminding people to Park Smart this summer.
The Metro Nashville Police Department strongly urges citizens to lock their automobile doors, secure any valuables and remove the keys.
"The thieves don't care. They don't care about your property," said Sgt. Jason Rosalia, Metro Police Department, Nashville and Davidson County.
More than 1,000 cars are sitting at the impound lot off Freightliner Drive, many of them stolen and later recovered by Metro Police.
"We're seeing this trend nationwide with the other agencies that we team up with. Throughout the Southeast they're seeing the same thing," he said.
Sgt. Rosalia said this year more than 1,500 cars have been taken and about 1,100 of those had keys inside.
"We're seeing that [drivers] are leaving the keys in the center console, leaving them in the ignition, even leaving their car running which just advertises, 'please steal me,'" he said.
If your car is stolen, chances are when you get it back, it won't drive the same, it won't look the same and it definitely won't smell the same.
So lock up your cars, hold onto your keys and keep your car from ending up in a lot.
