9 Whitehorse girls charged with car thefts

Whitehorse RCMP have charged nine teenage girls and expect to arrest two more in connection with stolen and torched vehicles.

Police and firefighters were called to Porter Creek School Aug. 1 where they found a stolen SUV burning in the woods. Five teens have been arrested and charged with theft and arsonin connection with that incident.

Thursday night police were called to investigate a traffic accident in Porter Creek. They discovered one of the vehicles involved had been stolen.

Seven girls aged 12 to 16 were arrested in that incident. Investigators say three of those teens were also connected with last Thursday's incident. Police say two more arrests are expected.

RCMP Const. Christine Grant said vehicles with keys left inside were being targeted.

"The M.O., I suppose, is that these youth go car shopping," she said.

"They find a vehicle that is open and then they start rooting around trying to find keys and a lot of us sometimes leave our keys in our glove compartments or under our seats just as habit or something we do. This is one of the reasons why vehicles are being taken."

Police are urging people to lock their vehicles and keep the keys with them.

The teens arrested so far have been charged and released to their parents. They're expected to make an appearance in court on Monday.