INDIANAPOLIS — Tire thieves are making the rounds in Indianapolis, and there are ways you can protect yourself and your vehicle.
Someone damaged Bryan Reinhardt's spare tire trying to steal it this past weekend.
"Stole the tire cover off of it," Reinhardt said. "It has a locking ring on it, and they tried to bust it and brokt he lock off and popped the cover off and took it for whatever reason."
Reinhardt's sister also had a scary and potentially dangerous situation when someone stole a tire off her 2016 Honda Accord.
"They took one of the mag wheels off of it and replaced it with a donut," Reinhardt said. "She got in her car to go to work and it was kind of shaking a little bit."
Reinhardt's sister wasn't available for an interview, but she said on the phone she was just glad something worse didn't happen.
"If they didn't tighten it up — lucky they did — it could have fell off," Reinhardt said.
A spokesman from the National Insurance Crime Bureau said preventing tire theft all together is pretty much impossible, but the best thing you can do is keep your car out of sight and park in a garage if you can. He also said locking lug nuts can help keep your tires safe and recommended using a security system that will alert your phone so you know if someone is messing with your car.
"It just had factory lugs on there," Reinhardt said about his sister's car. "About $270, $275. She's gotta wait a week for it to come in. She had to order it."
Bryan and his sister are left scratching their heads after this most unusual crime.
"For them to take the time to jack it up and put another tire on, usually they just drop it to the ground," Reinhardt said.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau wants you to remember you're a target for crime any time you park on the street. They said you should always lock your car doors and leave nothing in plain sight.
