Car thefts up in Durham and Raleigh. Two common mistakes drivers are making.

In July, someone stole a car from Durham’s Auto Mart, the dealership where Toby Durham is general manager.

The car was a Dodge Challenger Hellcat. The staff didn’t see the theft when it happened, Durham said. Later, on surveillance video they saw the person who took the keys had come in as a customer earlier that day.

“We’ve had cars stolen in the past, but someone always finds them,” Durham said.

Not this time.

“The biggest impact is the loss of money,” Durham said.

The theft and staff time involved afterward hurt the independent business financially. The car was worth $45,000, according to Durham.

While most property crime in the city of Durham is trending similar to last year, reported car thefts have seen a large increase.

Police data shows 675 car thefts as of Oct. 3 in Durham. That is compared to 485 at the same point in 2019 — an increase of almost 40%.

Seventeen cars were stolen over one week in September, CBS17 reported.

Of those, the keys were left inside in seven incidents and the vehicles were left running in two, the station reported.

Of the 651 cars stolen in Durham through the end of September, 286 (almost 44%) had the keys left inside or the vehicle was left running, according to the Durham Police Department.

“We do get calls about unoccupied vehicles getting stolen while they are warming up, especially during colder weather,” police spokesperson Kammie Michael stated in an email to The News & Observer.

But while more cars are being stolen this year, most — 521 (77%) — are being recovered, according to the police department.

Raleigh has also seen more car thefts. There were 768 car thefts as of Oct. 5, compared to 629 in 2019 —an increase just over 22%.

While car thefts in Durham are up from 2019, they were also high in 2018, when 634 cars were reported stolen as of Oct. 3, compared to 675 this year.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, some vehicles are stolen more frequently than others.

In 2019, 755 Honda Accords and 712 Ford full-size pickups were stolen in North Carolina. The Nissan Altima, the Honda Civic and the Toyota Camry were the next most frequently stolen vehicles in the state.

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 1:15 PM.