Penza, 20 February 2013. PenzaNews. 151 people were convicted of stealing vehicles in the Penza region in 2012. This was announced by head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Penza region Andrei Kataev during a meeting with the journalists on Wednesday, February 20.

“All convicts are men, most of whom – 96 people, or 63,5%, – are 14–24 years old. Over 60% of criminals had no permanent source of income when committing a crime, and almost 70% were in a state of intoxication,” he specified.

Andrei Kataev added that vehicle thefts are committed by a single person in most cases.

“In 2012, charges were brought against 36 people for illegal occupation of a vehicle without a purpose of stealing which was committed in a group. This is 23,8% of all convicts,” he said.

According to Andrei Kataev, unlike hijacking, when a person commits a crime spontaneously in order to simply drive around in the car, stealing cars is mostly a conscious carefully thought through action.

“In 2012, 55 people were convicted for a car theft, 36 of them, or 65,4% were aged 18 to 29. Only 18 people committed a crime in a state of alcoholic intoxication,” he said, stressing that 55% of the convicts committed crimes in groups.