CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WBEN) "Our detectives are working non-stop on the case." Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Gould updated WBEN Wednesday on a stolen vehicle case that hit very close to home for his officers.
Early Monday morning, Officer Troy Blackchief, a 17 year veteran with the department, was attempting to deploy stop sticks on Union Rd at the 33 overpass to help Depew Police end the pursuit of two stolen vehicles when he was struck by one of the suspect vehicles.
"Doctors are cautiously optimistic. Our officers have been at the hospital constantly along with Troy's family." Blackchief has been under sedation but Gould said doctors hope to slowly wake him up later on Wednesday.
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"We're still waiting for someone who knows who did that," added Gould. "Somebody knows something and we have good reason to believe that many people were involved." He said they are getting good cooperation from residents with Ring camera video.
Car thefts have tripled in Cheektowaga since 2019. Part of it is the Kia and Hyundai issue. But the other problem is that people are leaving their vehicles unlocked and leaving the keys in or near the vehicles.
"My message to the community is that we have to do better with locking vehicles. Sadly a lot of our problems could go away if we just made sure that our vehicles were locked and keys were not left inside."
Gould was asked if the problem is mostly teens out for a joy ride, or if it's bigger than that? "In general, when we are able to make arrests, it's mostly people under the age of 18."
Another disturbing thing, he said, is that the people stealing cars are trying to get the attention of police and lead them in a pursuit. "Our numbers of people who refuse to pull over has drastically increased over the last three years."
Stealing a motor vehicle is a serious crime. Grand larceny is a felony.
"Most of the time when we make arrests it's because the driver crashed the vehicle due to their inexperience as a driver and recklessness of their driving. It's an extremely dangerous situation, that can be avoided by keeping our vehicles locked and making sure the keys are not in them."
Crimestoppers WNY is offering a $5K award for information that leads to an arrest in the case.
