The number of car thefts in Jeddah is rising at an alarming rate, police say.
“More than 1,000 cars have been stolen in the past three months. Some of them had valuables inside them at the time and had been broken into,” Lt. Nawaf Al-Bouq, spokesman of Jeddah police, said. Police have managed to track down only 400 of the stolen cars so far, he added.
The figures are based on the complaints registered with Jeddah police in the past three months.
Al-Bouq urged car owners to take precautionary measures to guard against robbery and ensure that their cars are properly locked. He added that most of the thefts took place in the old and poor neighborhoods of Jeddah such as Al-Baghdadia, Al-Sharafiah, Al-Saheefa and Al-Ruwais because of the presence of a large number of violators of the residency and labor laws in these areas.
Meanwhile, 11 cars belonging to students of a secondary school in the city were broken into and valuables taken this week.
“I lost some cash, my family ID card, ATM card, road license of the car and the driving license,” Muhammad Al-Sulami, one of the students, said.
Another student, Mazin Muzjaji, said his car window was broken by some car thieves during the class hours. He found that an expensive mobile phone that he kept in the car was missing.
Ibrahim Bahashwan said the windows of his car were broken with a hammer and a music recorder was stolen. He added that all four tires of his car were also removed.
A thousand cars stolen in three months in Jeddah
