COLUMBUS, Ohio — Car thefts across the city of Columbus continue with three incidents happening Tuesday morning. Tiffany Hammons, a mother of a teen who has repeatedly stolen cars over the last month, is now speaking out and asking for help.
"I've been begging and pleading - please arrest him, lock him up, do something that's going to make him pay for the things that he's out here doing,” Hammons said.
Hammons said her 17-year-old son has been caught stealing and crashing multiple cars by police. He is also driving without a license. She said she feels not enough is being done to stop him.
"I've done almost everything I could and it’s turning him against me, he's going the opposite way and doing what he wants to do which is turning to the streets."
Hammons said when her son has been caught by police for stealing or crashing a stolen vehicle, they keep bringing him home.
"I think him seeing that nothing is being done is giving him more of an adrenaline rush to go back out and do it again,” Hammons said.
Between January and August of this year, 7,330 cars have been stolen in the city of Columbus. A little more than half of them have been Kias and Hyundais.
Hammons said she fears the threat her son poses to others and himself.
"Since he's left, that I know of, he's crashed five cars. And I reported each and every one that I know of, and he's still out there,” Hammons said.
It's not known if her son was part of the group who stole a Kia and Hyundai found at Krumm Park. The Hyundai had been set on fire, while the Kia was left in the pond.
About four hours later officers said they found a group of teens inside a car near the 700 block of Thurman Avenue, after receiving a 911 call. The driver then rammed into a Columbus police cruiser multiple times causing damage to the front bumper before leaving the scene.
As the city calls on parents to watch their kids, parents are wondering what happens next when they’ve done all they could.
"We're trying, but once they're here and they leave again, then what? What are we supposed to do?" Hammons said.