Harry Reid Airport Reportedly is Site of Luxury Vehicle Theft Spree

Posted on: May 2, 2024, 08:01h. 

Last updated on: May 3, 2024, 08:57h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Cadillac Escalades and other vehicles were recently stolen from parking garages at Harry Reid International Airport, a local TV station revealed. Las Vegas cops are searching for suspects.

Cadillac Escalade
A Cadillac Escalade, pictured above. The luxury vehicle is an example of the models being stolen from Harry Reid Airport. (Image: Cadillac)

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) officers are investigating the theft of 10 or more vehicles from the parking structures in recent weeks, according to Las Vegas TV station KLAS.

One of the vehicle owners received a text warning that his car door had been opened by an unauthorized person. A GPS service couldn’t reveal the stolen vehicle’s location.

When reached for comment on Thursday, airport spokesperson Joe Rajchel told Casino.org, “This is an open investigation and further questions should be referred to LVMPD.”

Cadillac Escalades are luxury vehicles. Prices of new 2024 Escalades or Escalade ESVs run from about $83,890 to $154,290, according to Car and Driver magazine.

They also recently have been reported stolen in different locations, such as Florida.

Prior Thefts

This isn’t the first time Las Vegas authorities have investigated vehicle thefts in the airport garages. In 2022, several cars were stolen there, KLAS reported.

To curb thefts, the airport added surveillance cameras and license plate readers in garages. Security guards regularly patrol the facilities and sometimes inventory what vehicles are in the parking facilities. But vehicles still get stolen even with the precautions in place.

One former employee recommended more bicycle patrols in the parking areas at the airport to curb the thefts, KLAS added.

Woman’s Body in Car

An alarming parking garage incident took place at Harry Reid in 2022, when a woman’s body was in a Subaru in a short-term area in Terminal 1 garage for 23 days. The deceased body began to smell leading an airport employee to alert police officers. An investigation revealed that the 65-year-old woman died by suicide, according. Reasons why the body wasn’t discovered sooner, led to questions about security measures in the airport garage.

The airport has previously pointed out there are numerous precautions in place to monitor vehicles left in the garages.

There’s a lot of different components in place to check on the vehicles,” airport spokesperson Joe Rajchel previously told KLAS. “We have people who go through at night — check the license plates that are here to again keep that information and see what vehicles we have on property.”

Other US airports, such as the one in Atlanta, also have seen a spike in the number of stolen vehicles at the start of 2024.

In just about eight weeks, Atlanta police received more than five dozen reports of vehicle thefts at parking areas at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

That’s a significant increase from the prior year, according to Atlanta TV station WAGA. There were some 66 vehicle thefts at the airport during the start of the year, compared to 11 stolen vehicles during the same period in 2023, according to the Atlanta police.

Suggested Precautions

Rajchel told Casino.org that travelers should always:

  • Lock their car
  • Take their keys and parking ticket with them
  • Take their valuables with them or hide them