GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. —
Lucas Zhao and his girlfriend were taking out their new dog Tuesday morning after a night of watching Halloween movies. When they walked outside, their locked Honda Accord was gone.
“We just got a puppy, so the dog rang the bell,” Zhao said. “We went outside, and [my girlfriend] goes, ‘my car's gone.’ I was like, 'you gotta be joking. You gotta be kidding me.’”
Zhao and his girlfriend had last used the car on Sunday but said they made sure to lock it after they got home.
They’ve lived on Cass Avenue SE for years. Zhao said this is the craziest thing they’ve encountered in the neighborhood.
“We locked up the car, went inside, resumed our you know, weekend finished up, went to work on Monday. Haven't driven it since,” he said. “And the craziest thing is, the keys were still inside the house, so we don't know how they got into the car.”
Grand Rapids Police Department said the number of car thefts in October is more than in September, at 65 and 43, respectively.
But they said compared to October past, thefts are down. In October 2023 there were 121 car thefts, and in October 2022, 126.
They also said car thefts overall this year are down 46% compared to the same time frame last year, with 1002 being reported in 2023 and 539 in 2024.
Zhao said he is thankful he and his girlfriend are unharmed and safe, but they did leave tailored suits from Vietnam in the car, something insurance can’t bring back.
He said he believes the car was not smashed and was accessed by other means.
“What we found this morning with the police, when they did their quick walk around, there was no signs of, like a break-in, no broken glass.”
Since the incident, Zhao found out the Honda Accord is one of the most frequently stolen car models, according to a report using data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
But he doesn’t believe anything they could have done would change the outcome.
“Double check, make sure your car is locked, make sure it's in a secure and lit area,” he said. “And honestly, I felt like we did the best of our ability, and we still had our car literally stolen from the front of our house.”
Zhao said he is thinking about investing in a wheel lock, which would be one way to prevent someone driving off without a key.