For weeks, car theft suspects had been telling Prince George's County police detectives that a repair shop was changing vehicle identification numbers on stolen vehicles, allowing thieves to resell the cars more easily.
So around dusk Wednesday, police descended on the shop with a search warrant, looking for illegal VIN plates and stolen cars as part of a campaign to shut down the infrastructure that helps make auto theft profitable, authorities said.
"We've got professional car thieves out here, and we need to stop them," said Lt. John Hipps, commander of the Bowie station's investigative unit, which includes the newly formed Auto Theft Task Force. "We don't know how many of our cars are being stolen by professionals, but we do know that to stop the problem, we have to deal with them as much as with the kids who are on the street stealing cars to ride around in."
The strike force, which began operating six weeks ago, is part of a broader effort by county law enforcement to crack down on "tow truck bandits," chop shop operators and people who commit insurance fraud -- criminals who are fueling the skyrocketing rise in auto thefts.
The thefts have nearly doubled in the past five years in Prince George's, rising from 9,881 in 2000 to 18,485 in 2004. On average last year, about 50 vehicles were stolen every day.
Armed carjacking has jumped 40 percent in the first quarter of 2005 compared with the same period a year ago. If Prince George's were a state, it would rank 17th in the nation in auto thefts, statistics show.
To combat the trend, authorities are turning to tactics that have helped other communities squeeze out car thieves: detailing teams of full-time investigators, stepping up prosecution and ticketing people who leave unattended vehicles idling.
In New York City, auto thefts dropped dramatically after aggressive education and police programs began. The problem moved south to Philadelphia and then Baltimore. About five years ago, after Baltimore and Baltimore County assigned 40 full-time investigators to an auto theft detail, car thieves headed south again.
"That's also about the time that Prince George's restructured the police department and auto theft was no longer a priority," said W. Ray Presley, executive director of the Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council, which tracks trends in auto theft. The rate has been increasing each year since, he said.
In the past four months, Prince George's police have dedicated more personnel to full-time auto theft investigation. Each police district is developing its own strategy for attacking the problem. The county also added 10 officers to the Washington Area Vehicle Enforcement team, a unit with headquarters in Prince George's that includes local, state and federal investigators.
The state's attorney's office has assigned four prosecutors, a paralegal and an investigator to go after car thieves in court. And in January, County Executive Jack B. Johnson named several business and community leaders and law enforcement officials to the Auto Theft and Vandalism Prevention Task Force.
The task force helped push for bills approved in the General Assembly that will allow owners of stolen vehicles to submit affidavits, rather than testify in person, and allow police to use recording equipment in so-called bait cars.
