Following an 11% drop in Seattle in 2009, auto thefts shot up in a big way in January.

Police and King County records indicate that, despite an ongoing effort by police and prosecutors to curb car theft in the Seattle area, auto thieves stole more cars in first month of the year than in any other month in 2009.

While SPD received a whopping 372 reports of stolen vehicles in December 09, that number jumped to 425 reported auto thefts in January. While theft rates have dropped off slightly since then, crime data indicates an upward trend in car theft in Seattle.

Although there was a slight decline in auto thefts in February—dropping to 277—data obtained from the King County prosecutors office indicates police received more than 300 vehicles were reported stolen in March. All told, that's about a 40% increase over the same three-month period last year.

So what's going on? Why is auto theft becoming the crime du jour? We've heard a few theories.

In 2005, King County prosecutors began aggressively pursuing prolific car thieves, rush-filing and stacking cases to try to get lengthier sentences for thieves.

The effort worked, and auto theft rates dropped 15 percent in a year.

However, law enforcement sources tell Seattlecrime that one prosecutors began hunting auto thieves, a number of prolific criminals simply simply switched to burglarizing homes, which would certainly account for the 9% increase in burglaries in 2008 and 3% increase last year.

Now that prosecutors have begun an initiative to go after burglars—just as they did with auto thieves—sources tell us that criminals who made a living stealing TVs and jewelry from homes are going back to boosting cars.

In February, prosecutors filed charges against several (allegedly) prolific car thieves busted earlier this year, who may account for at least part of the statistical uptick. 

Prosecutors charged Robert Alan Reid and Nannette N Tremoulet with burglary, auto theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, illegal possession of a firearm, and possession of a stolen firearm. Records indicate Tremoulet has previously been convicted for auto theft four times, and is currently facing an additional four charges. That's a lot.

Later that month, prosecutors also filed auto theft and identity theft charges against Tiffany D McDonough and Joseph Martin Gorman, who both have prior convictions for auto theft, among other things.

It remains to be seen whether prosecuting Reid, Tremoulet, McDonough, and Gorman will have any effect on the overall car theft numbers. SPD's releasing their official stats for March later today, so we'll see how they match up with data we received from the county, and look for any other trends in crime.