DC man rounds up friends to steal car back from thieves

WASHINGTON - It’s a TikTok video gone viral. A local man says his car was stolen. He uses GPS tracking to locate it. He and a group of friends find it and take it back.

The video currently has over 2.3 million views on Twitter after being reposted by Washingtonian Problems.

D.C. police say they were notified only after the man recovered his car.

Authorities told FOX 5 Friday, people who are victims of crimes should always call 911 first. A friend involved with the video says the group did so that but didn't get the answers from police they wanted.

Dr. Tod Burke, a criminologist and former police officer says having GPS trackers on your car is smart, but going after it yourself, without police can be incredibly dangerous.

"The most important part is safety," Burke said. "You’re going to say I know where the vehicle is, but at the same time, you don’t know the persons who stole the vehicle. You don’t know if they’re armed, you don’t know if there’s more than one, and you’re putting yourself and others at great danger by retrieving that vehicle, thinking I know where it is, I will just get it."

FOX 5 presented this video to people in Shaw and definitely got a mixed reaction. Some said there's absolutely no way they’d chase their car down.

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Others said it would depend on where the car was, adding they’d go with a group and still call the police.

"I would take people with me," said Lyndsey Clos, a D.C. resident. "I wouldn’t go by myself to go get it. But I think it’s worth it. If I have the location of it, and it’s on a map, I’m going to go get it. I would involve police, but if I could see it, then I’m going to go myself."

"I would definitely call the police, because you definitely don’t know what they have," said Daquan Simms, another D.C. native. "I like my life better."

According to D.C. crime stats, auto thefts are on pace to double this year from last year.