On Monday night, Auburn’s newly appointed Deputy Mayor, Cheryl Rakes, was set to be sworn in. Right before that, her 2016 Kia Soul, which was parked in front of city hall, was stolen.
“I was going to print out my speech I was going to make. That kind of stuff. I went back to my car at about 6:30 and my car was gone,” Rakes said. “So I called my husband and said did you come pick up car? And he’s like no,” she continued.
She immediately reported the theft to Auburn Police and thanks to the city’s new flock cameras that can detect license plates on stolen vehicles, they were able to track her car down.
Police found the car damaged and abandoned at an apartment complex about ten minutes away, which Rakes says is about three blocks from where she lives.
“The whole column steering is all broken out and they broke the back window, too,” Rakes said.
Auburn Police believe at this time that 4 to 5 juveniles stole Rakes car. Rakes tells KIRO7 she’s thankful her car wasn’t used in any sort of crime or hurt anyone, but she isn’t thrilled what the alleged thieves threw out of her car.
“I had some Christmas stuff I had in there that I just picked up and was going to take home after the council meeting,” Rakes said.
Auto thefts have been a problem in Western Washington since the pandemic; however, the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force released new data early in the year that suggests auto thefts went down 30% from 2023.
“That’s helpful, but like I said it’s still going on and the problem with the Kia’s is that not all of them have been fixed yet,” Jim Fuda with Crimestoppers said.
Auburn’s new Deputy Mayor is looking at the positives in this like how the new flock camera’s that were installed over the summer have paid off.
“I’m very glad that we okayed the flock cameras and since the summer time they’ve recovered a lot of stolen cars,” Rakes said.
Rakes hopes what happened to her can open the eyes of lawmakers in Olympia on how the state needs to be harder on teen crime.
“But there also needs to be accountability. And right now they know they’re not being held accountable,” Rakes said.
Auburn Police say no arrests have been made at this time.
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