HICKORY, N.C. — An annual report dubs the foothills as North Carolina's hotspot for car thefts.
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton region had the highest per-capita rate of stolen cars in the entire state for 2017.
In 2016, NICB said the region had 729 car thefts, which spiked in 2017 to 913 thefts for a rate of 249.09 per 100,000 people.
Brian Johnson has lived in the foothills for 10 years, and he questioned the accuracy of the report.
"I'm shocked because I think this is a nice community and quite safe actually," Johnson said. "I've never really witnessed or known of any multiple carjackings going on around here."
A closer look at the report reveals the 913 cars stolen in the foothills last year paled in comparison to the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord region, where thieves stole more than 5,000 cars.
"As a population-based survey, an area with a much smaller population and a moderate number of thefts can — and often does — have a higher theft rate than an area with a much more significant vehicle theft problem," NICB explained.
Still, it highlights a crime that could affect anyone in any location. Police departments encourage car owners to lock their vehicles, stow away valuables and not leave cars running outside as the temperatures start to dip.
