F-250 Theft Leads to Launch of Proactive ‘Stolen KC’ Facebook Group
Group aims to combat rising number of auto thefts with online portal that shares real-time details about recent incidents in the area.
Truck thefts are all too common. One moment, your prized Ford is in the parking lot, on the job site, or in your driveway. The next moment, it’s gone. You file a police report, maybe end up on the local news, and hope for the best.
In one man’s case, he also created a Facebook group. Kansas City, Missouri, FOX affiliate WOAI-TV has the story of Dave Brucker (pictured below) in nearby Raytown, Missouri, who created the ‘Stolen KC’ Facebook group after his F-250 was snagged by thieves.
“There must be a new generation or new group that’s learned how to steal these trucks,” Brucker said. “They’re just out here having a heyday.”
Brucker’s Facebook group features constantly updated posts by the owners of Ford F-250s and other Super Dutys, whose trucks were swiped in the Kansas City metro area. But it is not limited to only Ford owners. The ‘Stolen KC’ Facebook group also features real-time alerts that cover every type of ride from Ford Raptors and Harley-Davidson motorcycles to even kids’ bicycles.
‘There must be a new generation or new group that’s learned how to steal these trucks. They’re just out here having a heyday.’
The Facebook group is becoming increasingly popular, with input from its more than 100,000 members helping to further expand the possibilities of this crime-fighting endeavor. “How do I get just the Stolen KC page to alert me when a new post is made?” recently inquired one member, whose question highlights the importance of the timeliness of this important new Facebook group.
The online portal comes at a time when the rate of auto thefts has increased as of late, according to WOAI, including the recent thefts of two diesel Ford F-250s; one owned by Sergio Tovar (pictured below) from Raytown and one owned by Kim Piper from nearby Grandview, who had their locked Ford trucks lifted from out of their respective driveways.
“Five hundred vehicles [were stolen recently],” says Garcia. “That’s literally like somebody going through a shop or a dealership and cleaning out entire dealerships.”
Garcia’s and Fields’ F-250s were locked when they were stolen. Brucker says their fleet-vehicle heritage is to blame, where it takes a simple screwdriver to break into the truck, pop the ignition off, and make off with the truck.
“What they do is they steal the truck, commonly then the truck can steal the trailer,” says Brucker in the report. “They’ll steal the trailer and then they go after equipment that they are after.”
Rubbing salt into the proverbial wond, is the fact that not only are these brazen thieves stealing from the community, but it’s specifically Ford F-Series trucks that these lowlives seem to want to get their greedy little paws on without having to deal with truck payments like the rest of us.
“It used to be that Hondas were the number one theft target,”Brucker mentions in the report. “These trucks are the number one target for those that are stealing other equipment: mowers, skid-steers…”
Nationally, the Ford Super Duty is third behind the Honda Accord and Civic, according to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. In Kansas City, an average of 4,000 vehicles are stolen annually, though the city doesn’t break down the thefts by make and model.
“There’s at least one stolen every day,” Piper said. “They are easy to get into. They are easy to steal. Had I known I would have taken a lot different measures than just keeping my truck locked.”
Such measures, as suggested by WOAI, include a GPS tracker and a kill switch, the latter to deter thieves from stealing your Ford truck with a screwdriver.