Videos of a Phoenix teen joyriding in stolen cars helped crack a $600,000 theft spree

PHOENIX – A 19-year-old Phoenix man was sentenced to more than seven years in state prison after pleading guilty to a string of vehicle thefts across the Phoenix area.

In all, his theft caused more than $600,000 in losses, Maricopa County prosecutors announced Tuesday.

This is the footage that helped put a Phoenix serial car thief behind bars.
Jashwa Hicks, 19, recorded himself joyriding in stolen vehicles. Police later used these videos to connect Hicks to a $600,000 in stolen vehicles, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.… pic.twitter.com/EXkbc88E2f

— KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) March 31, 2026

Jashwa Hicks was sentenced for seven counts of theft of a means of transportation, a Class 3 felony, and one count of misconduct involving weapons, a Class 4 felony, according to court records.

Hicks was arrested in May 2025 after Phoenix police tracked a stolen vehicle to the area of McCormick Ranch Golf Club following a theft report near 40th Street and Camelback Road. A search of Hicks’ cellphone uncovered photos, videos and text messages connecting him to 14 other vehicle thefts between October 2024 and April 2025, prosecutors said.

At the time of his arrest, Hicks was already on probation for two separate vehicle thefts he committed in May and July of 2024.

All sentences run concurrently, making the effective prison term 7 1/2 years. Hicks received credit for nearly a year already served, and more than a dozen counts were dismissed under the plea agreement.

“Emotionally, this experience left me feeling violated, stressed and constantly on edge,” one victim wrote, according to a news release announcing the sentencing.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said Hicks had been given repeated opportunities to change course before his latest crimes.

“This defendant was given multiple opportunities to correct his behavior but instead chose to reoffend and showed no remorse for the financial damage and hardship he caused,” Mitchell said in the news release.

The Phoenix Police Department conducted the investigation.

Hicks has a restitution hearing scheduled for April 22.

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