Chicago air – A Lake View special education teacher says her Honda was stripped of its air bag after her window was smashed. The case is one of more than 1,200 air bag thefts reported in Chicago in the first four months of 2026, a period when police suspended investigations
When Maeve Priestley woke up early and saw her Honda Civic’s driver-side window smashed out, the shock landed fast—then the violation followed.
Priestley, 26, stood outside her Lake View condo building as she assessed the damage and realized the air bag had been ripped from her steering wheel. She didn’t know what to do, so she called her dad.
“It’s a very violating experience,” said Priestley, a special education teacher. “I felt very panicked.”
Her case is among more than 1,200 victims of air bag thefts in Chicago reported in the first four months of this year. Chicago police data show the numbers are a sharp break from 2023 to 2025, when there were only 70 such thefts.
As the surge grew, the Chicago Police Department suspended air bag theft investigations more quickly, and virtually all the cases went unsolved, according to an analysis of the data by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The one person charged with stealing air bags this year has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement—meaning he won’t be convicted if he meets conditions imposed by the court.
A police spokesperson said theft investigations “often take time and can be difficult to solve without video or forensic evidence.”
City leaders are trying to respond with new rules aimed at the black market. Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th) says he wants to give police another “tool” and has proposed a crackdown on the resale of stolen air bags that the City Council is expected to vote on Wednesday. His ward covers parts of the West and Northwest sides, including some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods.
Lake View has seen the most thefts. Together with West Town, Logan Square, Belmont Cragin, Humboldt Park and Avondale, just six neighborhoods accounted for 42% of all reported thefts citywide.
“Where I live is super family friendly,” Priestley said. “So that was just really surprising.”
Word spreads fast when the system stalls
Anthony Riccio, who retired as the second-ranking Chicago police official, said the spike likely reflects what criminals learn when enforcement doesn’t keep pace.
Thieves smash car windows, swipe air bags and sell them on the black market for a few hundred bucks. Because thefts can happen in minutes—or even seconds—Riccio said arrests are hard to make.
“Word has gotten out that this is an easy thing to do,” he said. “Minimal tools, super quick, easy turnover, very profitable.”
Police records show the department has been suspending cases quickly as the caseload has grown. Of more than 1,260 theft cases opened this year, almost 60% had already been suspended.
“Various units” across the police department’s five detective areas are tasked with investigating the thefts, the police spokesperson said. Cases are only closed “when all investigative avenues are fully pursued,” the spokesperson added. A suspended case, the spokesperson said, can be reopened “at any time additional evidence provides leads.”.
But Priestley said police never asked her for photos or videos that might have helped. Neighbors have Ring cameras, and she took stills of the crime scene. Her case was suspended in 26 days, records show.
Priestley’s experience is part of a larger breakdown in both enforcement and data tracking. Police have struggled, records show, to maintain accurate data on air bag thefts—roughly 4% of cases analyzed were erroneously classified as air bag thefts.
Why it’s happening remains murky
The reason for the surge remains unclear. The Chicago Sun-Times spoke to more than a dozen representatives for automotive and public safety organizations, and no one could offer a clear explanation for the rise in air bag thefts.
What is clear is that Hondas are the primary target.
Lynn Sealey, a Honda spokesperson, said the company only receives notice of an air bag theft in “unusual cases.” Honda’s primary concern, she said, is air bag deployment and safety.
But an auto shop owner said Hondas may not be as hard to steal as the public assumes. Sair Arapovic. who owns Royce Auto in Bensenville. said Honda air bags are actually harder to steal than those installed in some other vehicles. He pointed to the fact that air bag compartments have a screw on each side.
“Most of the air bags are just like a spring system, that all you have to do to remove it is [use] a pry tool that goes on the side of the steering wheel,” Arapovic said. “And literally, if you get the right position, it just pops out.”
Most thieves target cars parked on residential streets—but the only theft case that prompted charges this year unfolded differently.
In mid-March, a group allegedly stole air bags from a used car lot in Little Village. According to a police report, the thieves slid the air bags under a fence, fled in a Volkswagen SUV, and hit a forklift that tried to stop them.
The report says an 18-year-old man from Elgin was arrested and charged. Under an agreement with prosecutors, he won’t be convicted if he stays out of trouble for a year and isn’t caught with a weapon.
As of the reporting, no one had been arrested so far this year in any of the more common theft cases in residential neighborhoods.
A crackdown aimed at resellers
Villegas’ proposed ordinance would impose higher fines on those caught reselling stolen air bags.
Under the measure. junk dealers. pawn shops and auto repair stores would have to keep receipts showing where they got each of their air bags. Shops caught buying and selling stolen air bags could face up to a $4,000 fine for the first violation. If a shop is caught multiple times within a year, fines could increase by $2,000 or more.
Villegas’ proposal, however, does not address how police would identify those resellers. He said he doesn’t know whether police have bolstered resources to handle the spike in thefts.
“All I’m trying to do is provide [police] a tool, so that way we can try to address this huge spike in these air bag thefts,” Villegas said.
Riccio called the ordinance “a step in the right direction,” but he said enforcement has to come with teeth for it to matter. He wants a provision he described as a presumption of illegal possession clause.
His idea: police should visit auto shops and demand documentation of their air bag inventory. If shops lack proper documentation, authorities would automatically assume the shop sells stolen air bags and impose penalties.
“They can pass all the ordinances they want in the City Council,” Riccio said. “If there’s not enforcement, essentially it’s not an effective ordinance.”
Residents say they’ve noticed the changes—and the frustration
On the 2600 block of North Orchard Street in Lincoln Park—one of the blocks hardest hit by air bag thefts this year—cars remain parked under the everyday rhythm of a tree-lined neighborhood.
But residents have taken note of the tactics thieves are using now. A handful of Hondas parked near Orchard and Schubert Avenue in recent days were equipped with bulky metal steering wheel bars. One sedan had a full metal casing over its wheel.
Jinyoung Koh, 42, said her Honda CR-V was hit in mid-March along with six other cars in the same day. Koh said she had to pay a $1,000 insurance deductible, and repairs took months because air bags were on back order.
She said what unsettled her most was the arrest numbers.
“What are police officers doing? What kind of actions are they taking? And what are their strategic plans to reduce this crime?” Koh said.
Chicago air bag thefts Chicago Police Department deferred prosecution Lake View Ald. Gilbert Villegas City Council ordinance Honda air bag thefts black market
So they suspended investigating?? That seems insane. I guess just vibes now.
I’m not surprised, Chicago has been wild for a while. Air bags are expensive though, like why risk it. Also how do you not make 1 arrest with 1,200??
Wait was she the teacher or the one who got arrested? The article says suspended investigations and then only one arrest, but I got lost. If they stopped looking, how is that arrest even happening.
Air bag thefts went from like 70 to 1,200 and police just paused? That’s messed up. But also, doesn’t taking the air bag mess up safety like immediately? I saw a TikTok that said it’s “easy money” and now I get why everyone’s mad. Hope they beef up patrols or whatever before more people get hit.