METHUEN — Lulu Wang said her mother got an unpleasant surprise when she left to go to work yesterday morning.
"My mom came down to go to work and they found the car like this," she said, gesturing toward the green 1999 Acura Integra perched precariously on plastic soda crates — all four tires and rims missing.
The thieves left the lug nuts behind.
Wang, 25, of 142 Pleasant Valley St., said the family did not hear any noise overnight.
"One of our neighbors said his wife saw some lights in the window about 3 a.m. this morning," she said.
Two other residents had the same experience Thursday morning. Minda Shaheen, 35, of 1 Fern St., called police at 7:14 a.m. to report the four tires and rims had been stolen from her 2007 Honda Fit, which had been parked in her driveway. There was one jack under the driver's side near the door, but the rest of the vehicle was resting on the pavement.
She told police she and her husband did not hear anything. Ezequiel Rodriguez, 35, of 25 Horne St., called police at 7:53 a.m. Thursday to report finding his 2007 Toyota Camry up on plastic soda crates and the four tires and rims missing.
While the other vehicles did not appear to be damaged in the thefts, Rodriguez was not so lucky.
When the thieves set the car down on the soda crates, the weight of the car collapsed the rocker panel under the passenger side front door, causing it to bulge.
"These are crimes of opportunity," Capt. Randy Haggar, Methuen police patrol division commander said yesterday. "When the economy gets bad, crimes like these start to pick up," he said.
With more people putting good tires and rims on their cars, they should consider investing in a set of theft deterrent lug nuts, he said. The lug nuts, available at most auto parts stores, are rounded so they cannot be removed with a regular tire iron. The face of the lug nut has a shallow groove in it and they come with a key that fits into the groove. The other end of the key fits into the tire iron to remove the tire.
Usually one of the lug nuts is placed on each tire.
"People need to protect their valuables," Haggar said.
Last month, thieves stole the tires and rims from three 2004 Honda Civics parked at their owners' homes in Methuen.
