Adelaide, Mawson Lakes top RAA car crime list | Mapped

Falcons and Commodores remain SA thieves favourite vehicles, but new data reveals no suburb is safe from their reach. Find your local stats.

Adelaide is the car break in and theft capital of South Australia and the crime is on the rise with thieves taking a particular liking to old Commodores and Falcons.

South Australia Police figures obtained by RAA Insurance reveal where the most vehicle theft is taking place across South Australia from April 2021 to March 2022.

Adelaide recorded 538 thefts of valuable items from a motor vehicle and 185 stolen vehicles.

Mawson Lakes was runner up, with data revealing 177 reports of theft from vehicles and 185 vehicle thefts.

RAA spokesman Mark Borlace said that there has been an increase in the theft of vehicles and theft of possessions from vehicles.

“Part of that increase is because during Covid, the year before, a lot of people were home and the cars were locked up, but now, everyone is starting to get back out and leaving their cars,” he said.

“Thieves are getting back to their old habits as well.

“What we’ve seen is a 19 per cent increase in thefts of motor vehicles and a 28 per cent theft increase in theft from motor vehicles.

“The theft from motor vehicles can sometimes be a product of the cars are actually really too hard to steal unless you’ve got the keys, so they’ll go after other tradeable valuables that are mostly opportunist.”

The average age of a theft from or of a vehicle was 12 years.

“Traditionally, it’s always been the Holden’s Commodores and (Ford) Falcons from 10 or 12 years ago and the reason for that is that they’re just so popular,” he said.

“(Car thieves) are not little geniuses, they learn how to steal a car on a monkey see, monkey do sort of fashion, so that they don’t know how to steal all cars, they just learned how to steal one or two cars.

Mr Borlace said Mount Gambier was the only regional town to place in the top 10, with the Limestone Coast town recording 55 vehicle thefts and 76 recorded theft from vehicles.

“You probably expect that in the sense it’s the largest regional city we’ve got out there,” he said.

“The message to everybody is, the villains are back in town.”