Pickup trucks top Louisiana's list of most-stolen vehicles - KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana

A Honda Accord may have topped the list for the most-stolen vehicle in the nation, but in Louisiana, pickup trucks are more likely to be stolen.

A 2006 full-size Ford pickup truck was the most-stolen vehicle in Louisiana during 2011, followed by a 1999 Chevrolet full-size pickup truck. The 2001 full-size Dodge pickup came in third.

Nationally, the 1994 Honda Accord made the number one spot on the list, followed by a 1998 Honda Civic in second place and 2006 full size Ford Pickup in third.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau released these statistics in their annual Hot Wheels report, which is available online at www.nicb.org. This report takes into account all vehicle thefts reported to a law enforcement agency nationwide.

The report says on a national level, vehicle thefts are at the lowest they've been since 1967. The preliminary crime statistics from the FBI show a 3.3 percent reduction in vehicle thefts in 2011 compared to the number in 2010.

The CEO of NICB says there may be a reason later models are showing up on the most-stolen list.

"While overall thefts continue to decline, we are seeing a trend toward increases in the thefts of late model vehicles − ones that are theoretically harder to steal due to sophisticated key code technology," NICB president and CEO Joe Wehrle said in a release.

He described the typical vehicle thief as a professional criminal who makes a replacement key after figuring out a vehicle's key code.

"We are aware of nearly 300 thefts that took place in the first three months of this year in which we believe replacement keys using illegally obtained key codes were used to steal the vehicle," Wehrle said.

"We are working closely with our member companies, law enforcement, and the vehicle manufacturers to track these illegal key code transactions and stop the thefts or recover the stolen vehicles before they can be resold here or shipped out of the country to be sold overseas," Wehrle added.

Here's the top 10 stolen vehicles in Louisiana from 2011:

1. 2006 full-size Ford pickups

2. 1999 full-size Chevrolet pickup trucks

3. 2001 full-size Dodge pickups

4. 1998 Honda Accord

5. 2011 Toyota Camry

6. 2005 Nissan Altima

7. 2005 Chevrolet Impala

8. 2001 Ford Taurus

9. 2010 Toyota Corolla

10. 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe

See the top 10 stolen vehicles nationwide here: www.nicb.org.

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