SALINAS, Calif. -- Washing his car has never felt so good for Cesar Betancourt.
"I consider myself lucky," said Betancourt.
Last month, Betancourt's Mazda was stolen in broad daylight from his driveway.
"We were actually going to get a sippy cup out of the car for my son, that's when we noticed the cars not here anymore," said Betancourt.
Then came the mess of calling his insurance, finding a ride to work, and just dealing with the loss of a car.
"All last month its been a big headache," said Betancourt.
However, things turned around last Thursday when he got a call from police, they found his car. Turns out, his Mazda was helping crooks do their dirty work.
"They use the vehicles to get around," said Officer Miguel Cabrera of Salinas Police.
Cabrera said car theft is nothing new in the city, but what is alarming is that 126 cars were stolen in just one month. That's double the average. Cabrera said they don't know what's causing the spike, but predictive policing, a newly adopted technology from Santa Cruz Police, has helped recover many stolen cars.
"They know exactly what to look for, they knew where to find them," said Cabrera.
Cabrera said last month's cold temperatures could be one reason, drivers turn the car on to heat up and leave it unattended.
"We don't need to make things easier for the criminals," said Cabrera.
As for Betancourt and his neighborhoods, they are on the lookout for anything suspicious.
