Carjackings spun out of control in the Big Apple last year, rising 55% from 2020, according to new NYPD data on Thursday – a day after two car thieves struck in Manhattan less than a hour interval.
“New York has become the city of the carjack,” an NYPD official told the Post. “Between guns and the low risk of stealing cars, we’ve seen this explosion of carjackings.”
From 2018 to last year, carjackings in the five boroughs soared 355%, led by a staggering 4,400% increase in the NYPD’s Manhattan North Borough Command and increases of more than 400 % in the Bronx and Brooklyn North Commands, according to statistics.
So far this year, police have reported 20 carjackings, including five in Manhattan’s two borough commands, which are compounded, the department said Thursday.
Cops reported 510 carjackings last year, up from 112 in 2018. Last year’s number represents a 55.5% jump from the 328 carjackings in 2020.
The biggest spike last year over 2020 was in the Bronx, where 151 carjackings were reported, more than double the number from the previous year and an increase of nearly 129%, according to numbers.
The NYPD’s Brooklyn South Command recorded 112 incidents in 2021, nearly double the number of 65 in 2020 for a 72% increase, statistics show.
“Cars are hard to steal when parked, so they become moving targets,” said the retired NYPD Detective Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, who now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.
“It’s a big deal,” Giacalone continued. “People try to hang on to their cars, which increases the risk of getting killed. The public message should be that if you participate in this kind of crime, we are going to throw the book at you.
“Any firearm or instrument used to take property is theft,” he added. “It is the imminent use of force.”
Judges cannot set bail for defendants charged with auto theft under New York’s criminal justice reform law. But carjackers are usually charged with first- or second-degree larceny, which is still eligible for bail in the Empire State.
Violent car thefts in the city have been increasing for years.
On Wednesday, brazen thieves drove away with a black Audi SUV in broad daylight on West 55th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, threatening the driver with a Taser before taking off.
Wild video of the incident shows the stolen Audi slamming into a sedan – while hitting at least two other cars before one of the thieves fled into a subway station.
Less than an hour later, another carjacker used a box cutter to steal a black Infiniti on West 36th Street near Seventh Avenue. This suspect also fled.
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