Person While Aiding Crash Victim Has Car Stolen

Imagine...you've stopped your car to help the victim of an accident that just happened only to have your car stolen while you are offering aid.

There has been a notable increase in car thefts lately but this one is especially alarming. NEWS 4 (WIVB-TV) reports there was a crash Monday afternoon on Abbott road near Ridge Road in Lackawanna.

An off-duty corrections officer who happened to be driving by stopped to help the accident victim. Police were pulling up to the scene when three young people jumped into the correction officer's car and drove off.

Kelly the crash victim said...

“I heard them laughing, cheering, laughter from the car and I didn’t really understand what was happening at first. But they sped away. The first aid kit that I had just been using came out of the car and like something out of a movie scene bandages in the air like confetti just falling to the ground.”

Nicole the corrections officer who was assisting Kelly continued...

“I was standing right there. My key was in my pocket. You see a couple people walking up to an accident, you figure they’re being nosy and next thing you know they’re in my truck. I chased it I was about 10 seconds away from jumping into the back of my hatch. What do they say no good deed goes on punished yet I got my vehicle back I was lucky.”

Buffalo’s Deputy Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia says car thefts this year are occurring more than four times a day.

“I think you’re seeing a lot of people of a younger age going out with nothing else to do and they’re stealing cars,” said Gramaglia.

Adding to the problem since bail reform was enacted a judge is prohibited from keeping someone in jail as they await trial for car theft.

“And when you’ve got an individual that is on the second, third, fourth pending stolen car case and that judge still has no authority to set bail you know that’s a problem.”
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