OCHO RIOS, St Ann — The St Ann police have launched an investigation after concerns were raised about an upsurge in car thefts in the parish.

“Two cars were stolen in the cemetery area in St Ann’s Bay and a few days later, a lady went to a funeral and her car [was] torn apart. The kill switch that she put in was damaged because they were trying so hard to get off with the car,” Councillor Dallas Dickenson (Jamaica Labour Party, St Ann’s Bay Division) told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.

“In Seville Heights almost every other night a car is stolen, so it seems as if the car-stealing ring is really up and about. There is no week that goes by without one or two cars going missing,” added Dickenson.

However, as he did when the councillor first raised the issue during a recent meeting of the St Ann Municipal Corporation, Senior Superintendent of Police Dwight Powell on Tuesday shied away from categorising what is happening in the parish as a car-stealing ring.

During the meeting he had urged anyone with information on the thefts to speak with the police. He confirmed, Tuesday, that his team is investigating the issue.

According to Councillor Dickenson, he has received numerous complaints from people in his division who have fallen prey to thieves, and the situation has become unbearable.

“I ask that people secure their vehicle properly, especially at nights, because these activities seem to be more predominant at nights,” he said.

“These people are really going through it with these criminals because some of them are still paying for the vehicles, and the hassle with insurance and the whole process can become so tiring for them,” he said.