It saddens to see our fellow commuters car standing on blocks. Any help or ideas in this situation or to avoid future situation is appreciated.

Prince William County Police Department issued a warning on November 25, 2019 stating, “There have been recent incidents of larcenies at commuter lots. Suspects are cutting and removing catalytic converters from vehicles. These incidents are occurring during regular working hours, commuter lots along I-95 are the primary target.” Earlier this month, ABC 7 reported on thieves caught on camera.

Vandalism and tire theft is not new for Horner Road, Telegraph Road parking lot commuters. Vehicles were vandalized and tires were stripped more often than expected. It is important to note that Horner Road lot is a big lot and it takes only a few minutes for them to strip all 4 wheels. Locking wheel lug nuts did not stop those thieves.

Prince William County Police Department installed temporary surveillance cameras, which did not stop the tire theft. Those cameras at that time were not able to read the plates. Not that thieves have legal plates, but it was not enough to isolate the thieves. Later they installed surveillance cameras at the entrances that can read license plates. Not sure if the surveillance cameras stopped or they got the thieves, it is calm for the past few years.

Lot surveillance may be a deterrence, but not a solution, as thieves may have illegal plates. It will take time for the county or VDoT to install them. Till then, consider buying a dash cam, there are few dash cams capable of recording when the parked vehicle is impacted. Do your research, there were some issues on battery discharging and overheating with dash cams when turning on the parking mode recording feature. Dash Cams definitely deter thieves, but not a solution. If you have experience with Dash Cam’s or any other solutions please post your thoughts in the comments section below.