Monday morning, RiverBend Ford reported a stolen tailgate from a 2015 Ford F350.
This is the second such reported incident this year, according to the incident report.
The tailgate was valued at $3500 and the taillight was $150. Both were reported being seen during the weekend, but were missing Monday morning.
According to a report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, tailgate thefts have increased in recent years, growing 31 percent from 2012 to 2013.
“While many of these stolen tailgates end up on similar vehicles, others are simply sold for scrap, which contributes to the nationwide problem of metal theft,” according to the NCIB. “Tailgate thefts can occur anywhere; several episodes of multiple thefts have occurred in single locations, such as auto dealers’ lots and shopping malls. Since a tailgate theft takes just seconds to accomplish, consumers might consider using an after-market security device, such as a hinge lock to thwart criminals.“
Anti-theft tailgate locking devices lock the hinge mechanism and can either have a manual or electronic locking component. An electronic component secures the tailgate when the rest of the doors are locked, while a manual lock requires the owner to use a key to manually lock it.
According to the NCIB report, Texas, California, Arizona and Florida were the top four states identified in claims data with a tailgate theft between 2012 and 2013.