GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- For the first time in a long time, vehicle thefts went up in Grand Rapids for the year, and Lieutenant Patrick Merrill says he knows why.
The combination of frigid temperatures in January and February 2014 and the record setting snowfall in November that year forced more people to leave their cars running with the keys inside.
That year saw a 25 percent increase in vehicle thefts over 2013, and the month of November increased by more than 1000 percent, from six to nearly 70 thefts.
