Car thieves steal more than a dozen vehicles from Frederickson auto lot, deputies say

Car thieves broke into an auto auction lot in Frederickson and stole more than a dozen vehicles by cutting a section of fence and ramming a gate, deputies say.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to the auto lot Friday, where a manager showed them the damage. Deputies said the suspects broke into a building that held keys for the vehicles and made off with 19 trucks and cars.

The Puget Sound Auto Task Force has been able to recover 10 of the stolen vehicles and is continuing to try to track down the rest, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s department.

Many of the vehicles were found parked in neighborhoods, deputies said. Task force members were able to locate them by searching in places where they commonly locate stolen vehicles. Deputies said the auto task force is working to locate suspects.

The thefts come at a time when deputies say they are seeing a dramatic increase in vehicle theft. Deputies said there were 796 vehicles stolen in October this year, compared to 367 stolen during the same month in 2020. From Thursday to Sunday, deputies said they received reports of 43 stolen vehicles.