Council Hears Cafritz Update and More at Monday Work Session

A Cafritz update and an orgaized crime and car theft presentation dominated discussion at Monday's council work session in Riverdale Park.

Cafritz Update

There are a few issues to be worked out on the Cafritz development, such as adding a deceleration lane on U.S. Route 1 to the development and whether the streets in the development should be publicly or privately owned, Paul Mortensen, planning consultant, told the mayor and Council.

Other issues still needing to be worked out are determining which streets would be one-way streets, and where to add a bike lane. 

He said the University of Maryland has asked the bridge location be from Van Buren Street and land in the middle of Lafayette Street.

Orgnized Crime and Car Theft Presentation

Also at Monday's work session, Prince George's County Police Department Lt. Matt Meterko gave a presentation about organized crime and auto theft.

So far in 2013, 824 cars have been stolen with about 620 cars recovered in Prince George's County, Merterko said.

"So, 200 cars gone and gone forever," he said.

In the past, cars were stolen for a day by juveniles, but now stealing cars has become a big business, he said, adding that gangs steal cars to sell them to a middleman who will often ship the cars overseas to sell them.

"The countries these cars are going to don't care if they are stolen," Meterko said. "Our cars are built better than in other places in the world."

According to Meterko, car thieves also will put new vehicle identification numbers on cars, then sell them to a friend who in turn sells it to another friend. After a few months, the stolen car will be sold to the general public. Later, the police will find that the car is stolen and retake the car and the only one who doesn't get reimbursed is the last person who bought the car.

Shutting down a crew of car thieves has limited impact, Meterko said, because it is lucrative enough to start over.

"We lock the same guys up over and over, and they say the same thing: 'We make too much money,'" Meterko said.

He gave tips to prevent a person's car being stolen, such as using a club on the steering wheel or registering for the Watch Your Car program and put the sticker on the back of one's car. Meterko said if a police officer sees that sticker on a car being driven between 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., that gives the police probable cause to stop the car to make sure the owner is driving the car.

Meterko also said to be leery of used car sales.

"Don't buy a used car unless you know the person or call me," he said, as the police can check to make sure the vehicle is not stolen.