TAIF: Car theft in Taif is so widespread that it has become a part of everyday life. Not a day passes without someone reporting that he found his car with a broken window and personal stuff from inside the car missing. Forgetting a mobile phone inside the car is a perfect invitation for criminals to break inside the car.
Abu Lama, an employee at Prince Sultan Hospital in Taif, was a recent victim to car theft. Lama had stopped to buy some groceries, leaving behind his mobile phone in the front seat.
He said he was shocked when he returned to find the windows smashed and his mobile phone gone.
“Thieves were quick to grab the phone,” he said. “I know it was my mistake that I left my mobile phone there, but the situation is bad if it takes criminals only one minute to do the job on a busy street.”
Abdullah Al-Otaibi, another citizen, said he left his laptop in the back seat and went to pray.
“When I returned I found that the laptop and the car’s stereo were gone,” he said. “I called police but they were of no help. They told me to forget about it. The only thing they can do was to issue a police report containing the specifications of the computer so that I can take it to computer stores in case the thieves tried to sell it. When I went to the computer market, I found many victims in my situation searching for their computers.”
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice itself has been a victim. Abed Al-Sufyani, a commission member, said the windows of a GMC van belonging to the agency were smashed and two Sony computers and other belongings were stolen.
“The computers were expensive. One of them didn’t have the battery charger. Since the charger can only be ordered through the dealer, we gave them notice that the computers were stolen in case the thieves try to buy a charger, since it can only be ordered through Sony.”
Thieves showed up two weeks later and asked for a charger. The employees found out that the computer matched the description of the stolen one. The thief escaped, but the computer shop managed to recover one of the laptops.
Maj. Turki Al-Shehri, official spokesman for Taif police, said the rise in criminal activities, including car thefts, is a normal phenomenon that accompanies population growth.
He said security officials are monitoring the problem and studying ways to reduce it. “Owners are to blame sometimes for leaving valuable stuff inside their cars, especially old cars that don’t have alarm systems. Such people are encouraging thieves to commit crimes; they should realize that cars are not safe places to keep valuable stuff.”
Abdullah bin Jameel, head of media relations at the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Taif, said unemployment and abuse of drugs are behind the rise in criminal activities.
“The absence of plainclothes policemen patrolling the streets is one of the reasons for the big rise in such crimes,” he added. “There should be secret units inside cities. As for shops, sellers and buyers should ask for identification cards to prevent thieves from selling stolen goods. If this was applied then theft cases would drop definitely.”
