Chicago makes life (a little) easier for vehicle theft victims

CHICAGO (WGN) — “I’m the one that lost my car; but the city is sort of treating me as if I did something wrong now.”

Sean Connolly’s frustration fueled a change in city policy. Soon after his Hyundai was stolen near his home in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood in 2023, he received notices that his vehicle was captured running a red light and speeding, accumulating $200 in fines in just a few hours.  And so began a maddening mess as he tried to get the city to void the tickets.

“In the time it took to get my insurance to declare the car a total loss and cut me a check I was still dealing with this red light ticket camera,” he said, adding that a hearing officer refused to accept his report to 311, the city’s non-emergency contact center, as proof the car had been stolen. 

Instead, he was told he had to report in-person to police headquarters on the opposite side the city, a tough task when your car has been stolen. Connolly said his first attempt to visit the CPD records department was stymied by the fact the office closes at 1:30pm. A second attempt was successful, but he still had to make a second appearance in front of a judge.  

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‘Why can’t the staff at camera court simply access stolen car reports from the staff at the 311 Center?’ he wondered. After all, it’s not a rare occurrence. There were 5,800 tickets contested and dismissed last year after the vehicle was reported stolen, according to the Chicago Department of Finance.

“Especially when you’ve been victimized, we need to be doing a better job of making it easier to pick-up and move on,” observed Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward). Martin wrote and passed an ordinance that goes into effect this week that puts the burden on the city to check its own records to confirm a stolen car report and then voids tickets accumulated after the theft.  

“Our goal with this legislation is you can make a simple phone call and we get that stuff taken care of so you can go on and worry about more important things,” Ald. Martin said.

Connolly wonders how many other people simply gave up and paid fines rather than jump through the hoops established by the city. There were a record 29,198 cars reported stolen in 2023. The number dropped to 21,698 last year and is down 29% so far this year, according to CPD.  

“It was happening all over the city and it didn’t feel like we were being supported in any way,” Connolly said. “They made it uniquely difficult at every turn.”