COLUMBUS, Ohio — In the past three months, six vehicles have been stolen from an Amazon warehouse parking lot in Columbus.
One of those vehicles belonged to Shakeema Mills.
“I arrived to work and get in the delivery van, and when I got back to work around 6:30p, my car is not parked in its spot, it is missing,” she said.
CrimeTracker 10 has covered the growing trend of young people stealing cars across central Ohio.
According to Columbus police, from the beginning of the year through the end of April, there were nearly 3,000 cars reported stolen in the city.
A majority of those cars have been Kias and Hyundais, making up 550 and 500 vehicles respectively of that total.
Of those six stolen at Amazon, five were a Kia or Hyundai.
Mills said she hadn't heard about the thieves, until she became one of their victims.
“[Police] said it is happening everywhere. They said they get anywhere from 8-10 cars a day. I said that is ridiculous. They said they are juveniles,” Mills said.
Mills has missed work because she doesn't have a car. It has been recovered, but she says it's not drivable.
“This is very frustrating because my entire life was in that car. I work six days a week. I can't even do my other jobs because my credentials were in the car,” Mills said.
In a statement, Amazon said, "We're aware of these incidents and take them very seriously. We're continuing to work with law enforcement as they investigate and are also implementing enhanced security measures to ensure our employees and their property are safe."
Columbus police say they are continuing to investigate. They say owners should do their part and not leave any valuables in their cars and lock the doors.