FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas \u2013 Two Fort Bend County families are dealing with the aftermath of vehicle thefts after their GMC trucks were stolen less than an hour apart last week.<\/p>\n
Fabio David Arboleda said his white 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 was his dream truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe spent a month and a half just looking for a very specific truck\u2026a white GMC Sierra with the sensors and nice interior. We finally found one,\u201d Arboleda said.<\/p>\n
But early Tuesday morning, Aug. 11, surveillance video captured thieves taking the truck directly from the family\u2019s driveway on Water Edge Lane in Katy.<\/p>\n
The theft happened around 3:50 a.m.<\/p>\n
Video shows the truck disappearing from the driveway in less than a minute.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel almost violated,\u201d Arboleda said. \u201cThey came in the middle of the night and took the truck like it was nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 40 minutes earlier, another GMC truck was stolen just down the street.<\/p>\n
Surveillance video from the two thefts appears to show the same group of people involved. The Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Constable\u2019s Office is still investigating the cases.<\/p>\n
These are the most stolen vehicles in the Houston area, per Pct. 4<\/a><\/p>\n One truck recovered, another still missing<\/p>\n KPRC 2 reporter Re\u2019Chelle Turner spoke with the owner of the other GMC stolen earlier that morning.<\/p>\n That owner said the truck was eventually recovered, but its security system had been stripped and the vehicle was essentially considered a total loss.<\/p>\n The Arboleda family\u2019s Sierra has not been recovered.<\/p>\n The family previously said the truck was later detected by a Flock license plate reader in Katy, but investigators have not located it.<\/p>\n Arboleda said the truck had multiple security features, including OnStar and an AirTag.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had, you know, everything you can think of, and they just, I mean, they just took it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Fort Bend constable reports increase in auto thefts<\/p>\n Fort Bend County Precinct 1 Constable Chad Norvell said his office has seen a sharp increase in auto theft reports compared with this time last year.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost double, in fact, the number of auto theft reports they\u2019ve taken from the year-to-date period compared to last year,\u201d Norvell said. \u201cWe have seen quite a few more, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n Norvell said high-end pickup trucks, including GMC models and Ford F-150s and F-250s, are common targets.<\/p>\n He said thieves can sometimes steal the vehicles within a matter of minutes.<\/p>\n The increase locally comes even as vehicle thefts have fallen nationally.<\/p>\n According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, 659,880 vehicles were reported stolen nationwide in 2025, a 23% decline from 2024. Even with that decrease, NICB says a vehicle was still stolen somewhere in the United States about every 48 seconds. (National Insurance Crime Bureau<\/a>)<\/p>\n Texas ranks second in the nation for vehicle thefts<\/p>\n Texas recorded 75,269 vehicle thefts in 2025, the second-highest total of any state in the country, behind only California.<\/p>\n The Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metropolitan area also ranked among the nation\u2019s biggest vehicle theft hot spots.<\/p>\n The 10 metropolitan areas with the highest number of vehicle thefts in 2025 were:<\/p>\n Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim \u2013 53,911<\/p>\n New York-Newark-Jersey City \u2013 27,138<\/p>\n Chicago-Naperville-Elgin \u2013 24,299<\/p>\n Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands \u2013 23,659<\/p>\n San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont \u2013 22,197<\/p>\n Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington \u2013 21,638<\/p>\n Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington \u2013 19,117<\/p>\n Washington-Arlington-Alexandria \u2013 15,204<\/p>\n Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario \u2013 14,111<\/p>\n Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue \u2013 12,684<\/p>\n Vehicle thefts falling nationally<\/p>\n There is some encouraging news.<\/p>\n Vehicle thefts dropped significantly across the United States in 2025.<\/p>\n NICB reports 659,880 vehicles were stolen nationwide last year, representing a 23% decline from 2024 and the lowest theft level in several decades.<\/p>\n That followed another 17% decline in 2024.<\/p>\n However, NICB says a vehicle was still stolen somewhere in the United States approximately every 48 seconds in 2025. (National Insurance Crime Bureau<\/a>)<\/p>\n What are the most stolen vehicles?<\/p>\n The GMC Sierra involved in the Fort Bend County case does not appear on NICB\u2019s list of the 10 most frequently stolen vehicles nationwide in 2025.<\/p>\n However, two other full-size pickup trucks do.<\/p>\n According to NICB, the most stolen vehicles nationwide in 2025 were:<\/p>\n Hyundai Elantra \u2013 21,732<\/p>\n Honda Accord \u2013 17,797<\/p>\n Hyundai Sonata \u2013 17,687<\/p>\n Chevrolet Silverado 1500 \u2013 16,764<\/p>\n Honda Civic \u2013 12,725<\/p>\n Kia Optima \u2013 11,521<\/p>\n Ford F-150 \u2013 10,102<\/p>\n Toyota Camry \u2013 9,833<\/p>\n Honda CR-V \u2013 9,809<\/p>\n Nissan Altima \u2013 8,445<\/p>\n The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 was the fourth-most stolen vehicle in the country, while the Ford F-150 ranked seventh. (National Insurance Crime Bureau<\/a>)<\/p>\n Could a steering wheel lock help?<\/p>\n Norvell said drivers should consider adding layers of security rather than relying solely on a vehicle\u2019s factory alarm or electronic systems.<\/p>\n One of his recommendations is an old-fashioned steering wheel lock.<\/p>\n \u201cEven what I do on my own truck, I have an F-250,\u201d Norvell said. \u201cI know they\u2019re commonly stolen, so I use an old-school club on the steering wheel. It\u2019s just a device that is visible, something they can see.\u201d<\/p>\n Turner purchased a steering wheel lock at a local Walmart for less than $30 to demonstrate how it works.<\/p>\n The device stretches across the steering wheel and locks into place, making it difficult to turn the wheel without first removing the lock.<\/p>\n Norvell stressed that no single device can guarantee a vehicle will not be stolen.<\/p>\n Instead, he said the goal is to make the vehicle less attractive to a thief by creating another obstacle that takes additional time to defeat.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething else, a visible deterrent to make the thieves recognize that this is going to take them a couple minutes extra,\u201d Norvell said. \u201cI know they can defeat anything if they want to, but just looking for something that\u2019ll slow them down and hopefully they can go somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n NICB similarly recommends using additional anti-theft technology such as steering wheel locks, audible alarms, kill switches and aftermarket GPS trackers, including AirTags. (National Insurance Crime Bureau<\/a>)<\/p>\n