IMPD recovers 20 stolen vehicles, cautions car owners

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is cautioning car owners after officers recovered 20 stolen vehicles on Tuesday.

Police said the stolen cars were mostly Dodges and Chryslers, and several of them were chopped up so their parts could be sold.

Seventeen of the cars were from the Indianapolis area; the others were from Michigan, Georgia and Tennessee.

Capt. Chris Boomershine said police went to the 2800 block of North Euclid Avenue after a woman called and said her ex-boyfriend fired three shots.

Boomershine said officers expected to take guns from the scene, but he says this time was different.

“We are seeing a lot of stolen cars right now. We receive a lot of calls for service that on the face of them are bigger or deeper than they appear,” Boomershine said.

Two people were arrested during the “shots fired” call. Boomershine said police obtained a search warrant for the suspects home and that’s when they found the stolen cars.

“It was at that time they requested assistance from the regional auto theft detective with IMPD and the Indiana State Police,” Boomershine said.

The two men arrested have not been charged with auto theft. Boomershine said police are still working to figure out how the cars were stolen and who the parts were being sold to.

“We need to try and find any communication between the suspects and anybody who is buying auto parts or selling stolen vehicles or stolen auto parts related to this investigation. So there’s just a lot of loose ends to tie up,” Boomershine said.

He said owners of Dodges and Chryslers around the Indianapolis metropolitan area should try to park their cars somewhere out of sight. He said getting an extra car alarm is also a good idea.

Anyone with information in this case should call IMPD or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana.