NORFOLK, Va. - A car stolen out of a driveway in Norfolk on December 17 was found over the weekend in a neighboring city.
Debra Askew said detectives notified her that her maroon Honda CRV was found abandoned in a field next to Newtown Elementary School. The car was reported stolen the week before Christmas, and Askew has been driving a rental since its disappearance, trying to get the word out for everyone to be on the lookout for her car.
News 3 was with Askew on Wednesday when she went to the impound lot to look at the damage. The car was covered in mud, with damage to the front. Askew said she always took pride in keeping her car clean and maintained.
Many of her personal belongings were dumped near the school where the car was found. Askew said she feels violated to know someone else was in a car she took pride in, and she said it has been a depressing Christmas.
Police have not indicated how the thieves got the car to start. Askew said her son was working on it the day before and the keys may have been in the vicinity.
In the police report, there is no suspect information listed. Askew hopes this story will get the thieves caught, but it is more so a lesson from this victim to others.
Askew warned others to be vigilant: if you see people in your neighborhood who do not belong or they look to be acting sketchy, call police.
Anyone with information about this crime or about who may have stolen her car can submit anonymously to the crime line at 1-888 LOCK U UP or through the P3 tips app, or on P3tips.com.
Norfolk police report vehicle theft is down for the month of December. So far, Norfolk has had 43 vehicles stolen this month (December 1-25, 2018) compared to 64 vehicles stolen last December (December 1-25, 2017). That is a 33% decrease in stolen autos. For stolen auto year-to-date data, Norfolk is up slightly (7%) compared to last year's data. However, they are down 10% in all crime this year compared to last year.
