Sharp rise in reports of stolen vehicles at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport
ATLANTA - Imagine coming home from a fantastic vacation or a stressful business trip at the world's busiest airport only to head to one of the parking decks and discover your car is gone.
According to Atlanta Police incident reports, there have been more than five dozen reports of motor vehicle thefts in the Airport Police Cone since the beginning of the year. That number is up significantly from last year's same period.
"Maybe we will create a Facebook group for vehicles missing from Atlanta parking," Jeff Green said.
It was said as a joke, but it's probably not a bad idea by Jeff Green. He is just one of dozens of victims who say their vehicles have been stolen from one of the parking garages at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
"Déjà vu. I was in the airport South Deck that afternoon going through that same thing," Green said.
Reports of car thefts at Atlanta airport
FOX 5 did a story about two weeks ago where an Alabama woman had her jeep stolen. That same day the story aired, Green came back to a surprise.
"You get home from a west coast-east coast flight. You walk out and go 'click click' to find your car and your car is not there," Green said.
Green was parked in one of the decks.
"The bigger frustration is according to the system, my vehicle is still in their garage," Green said.
Several other vehicles stolen from Atlanta airport
FOX 5 reached out to Atlanta Police for numbers and a statement was directed to their online crime database.
The numbers found since Jan. 1, 2024, there have been 66 reports of motor vehicle thefts in the Airport Zone. Compare that number to 11 during the same time period last year.
FOX 5 found 46 of the reports from the South or North Terminal specifically. The rest were reported in different areas near the airport like North Loop Road, the Car Rental Facility and Atlanta West Parking Garage.
"They do a license check every night recording license plate numbers. What I understood the car was there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. Then it was not there on their next wrong," Green said. "With or without a license plate we should see that vehicle leaving."
A spokesperson for Hartsfield-Jackson sent the following statement:
" ATL prioritizes the safety and security of all passengers, visitors, employees, and property. Working closely with the Atlanta Police Department (APD), ATL is implementing comprehensive security measures throughout the Airport, including increasing the number of officers at entrances and exit plazas of every deck. Additionally, the airport is looking at modifying entry and exit lane access and deploying additional cameras to capture and track incidents in real time."