Cincinnati police are asking the public for help identifying two men accused of stealing a vehicle in West Price Hill earlier this month. The theft happened on August 11 along West 8th Street near Hermosa Avenue, and investigators say they still need tips to move the case forward.
According to WKRC, police have requested information from the public that could help solve the theft, though authorities have not released a description of the suspects beyond identifying them as two men. The stretch of West 8th Street where the theft occurred sits within Cincinnati Police Department District 3, which covers 18 West Side neighborhoods across roughly 20 square miles with 161 sworn officers, according to the City of Cincinnati.
A Corridor Already Under Scrutiny
West 8th Street has drawn police attention before. Just weeks earlier, a severe crash at Trenton Avenue — a few blocks from Hermosa Avenue — critically injured a 9-year-old child and prompted a heavy police response, as Hoodline reported at the time. That incident, combined with the new theft, adds to a string of public safety concerns along the same West Side corridor this year.
The intersection of West 8th Street and Hermosa Avenue also carries a curious footnote in Cincinnati history: it was once the site of a 1920s estate belonging to Prohibition-era bootlegger George Remus, according to local historical archives shared in the Old Cincinnati Facebook group.
Auto Theft Fits a Citywide Pattern
The West Price Hill case lands amid a broader wave of vehicle theft across Cincinnati. The FBI Crime Data Explorer recorded 2,760 motor vehicle thefts in the city in 2024, a substantial chunk of the 11,932 property crimes reported that year. City officials also told WVXU that property crime rose 7.9% citywide in a recent reporting period, driven partly by a 46% surge in thefts from vehicles over just 28 days.
Stolen cars carry risks beyond the vehicles themselves. Cincinnati police data reported by WLWT showed that 61% of all firearm burglaries and thefts across the city originated from vehicle break-ins and stolen cars, a statistic that helps explain why local police prioritize these investigations. In January, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced state-supported violent crime reduction operations in Cincinnati that led to multiple felony arrests and firearm recoveries during traffic stops tied to stolen vehicles on the West Side.
What Suspects Could Face
Under Ohio law, stealing a motor vehicle of any value is charged as grand theft of a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony. A conviction can carry up to 18 months in prison and fines as high as $5,000, according to the Ohio Revised Code.
It remains unclear what type of vehicle was stolen, whether surveillance footage has captured more detailed descriptions of the two men, or whether the car has since been recovered. Anyone with information is asked to call Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-3040, where tips can lead to a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information resulting in a felony arrest or indictment.
The theft adds to a busy stretch for property crime coverage across Cincinnati's West Side. Just days earlier, an East Price Hill mom was booked after an alleged retail theft turned into a multi-neighborhood police chase and crash. Investigators have not indicated any connection between that case and the West 8th Street vehicle theft.
