Crime statistics from January through May of this year show a reduction in violent crime, but a climb in property crimes like motor vehicle thefts, burglary, and thefts from vehicles compared to the period last year.
The trends mirror county trends reported last week, which saw a hike in larceny, stolen vehicles and burglary.
Aggravated assaults are down the most (13 percent), falling to 58 incidents from 67 incidents.
A huge jump in thefts from motor vehicles—up 92 percent to 169 thefts from 88 last year—could be related to a spike in iPod thefts from cars near UVA earlier this year.
Motor vehicle thefts also more than doubled. There have been 61 cars stolen so far, compared to 39 in this period of 2005.
So far, this year has also seen more crimes in general: 896 incidents compared to 748 last year.
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