Police have recovered two ‘90s model Hondas stolen from SJRC in the month of September.
Three other Hondas were stolen from Sonoma State University in September, leading police to believe the thefts may be connected, according to SRJC District Police Sgt. Rob Brownlee. These thefts are part of a total of thirteen that have occurred in the last three weeks throughout the county.
All the cars taken were Honda Civics and Accords from the ‘90-‘98 model years. Police think this is because they are a particularly easy model to steal and their ubiquity makes them easy to find and hard to recognize.
The SRJC students’ cars were taken from the Don Zumwalt Parking Pavillion Sept. 6 and the Bech Annex parking lot Sept. 11 respectively. Santa Rosa Police Department officers found one of the cars while the other victim found their car parked near Safeway on Mendocino Avenue Oct. 3 and notified the Police. Neither car had any real damage beyond disrupted interiors.
Sgt. Brownlee said police had to fill out recovery paperwork to get the recovered Hondas off the stolen vehicle list, otherwise the owner could have been pulled over at gunpoint.
The SRJC Police Department has been working with the Sonoma County Auto-Theft task force leading the investigation as well as increasing the number of patrols they have in the parking areas. They also recommend students take basic precautions like making sure they lock their cars and keep valuables out of sight.