Spokane tops Washington cities for vehicle theft

Spokane had the highest rate of vehicle theft of any Washington city in 2014, an annual survey found. The city also placed 6th nationally, jumping from 7th place in 2013, despite a 5.4 percent drop in auto thefts, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s 2014 Hot Spots report. Spokane residents reported 3,032 stolen vehicles in 2014, about 560 for every 100,000 people. The rate was slightly lower in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area, which reported 20,268 stolen vehicles, about 552 for every 100,000 people. Next on the Washington list was Yakima, followed by Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Longview, Mount Vernon, Bremerton-Silverdale, Olympia-Tumwater, Walla Walla and Lewiston. Auto theft in Washington has jumped 17.8 percent since 2011, and 34,024 vehicles in the state were reported stolen in 2014, according to the Northwest Insurance Council. That’s an average of 93 vehicles stolen each day and nearly four stolen each hour. California cities took seven of the top 10 spots on the national list, with the highest theft rate in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area. Vehicle theft is the nation’s number-one property crime, costing an estimated $4.1 billion in 2013, according to the FBI.