Police are working to curb a recent spike in stolen vehicles in San Jose.

The San Jose Police Department reports roughly 90 cars have been stolen in the last three days, with many of those vehicles often used to commit other crimes.

"What we're seeing recently is a little bit of an uptick in cars used for residential burglaries, commercial burglaries," said an undercover officer, who leads a county task force looking for stolen cars and crooks.

The officer said thieves will steal a car, commit any number of burglaries and then abandon the car.

A preschool in East San Jose has seen its share of abandoned cars in its parking lot. The school in response has added a chain and padlock on the driveway to stop the problem.

Police on Wednesday made an arrest a man on suspicion of stealing a white Honda Accord.

The car's owner, Michael Sutherland, said the vehicle was stolen on Friday.

"I woke up one morning to go to the store and my car was stolen," Sutherland said. "No broken glass and I called police and they said a Honda like that are very easy to steal."

Police said 1980s-model Honda cars are targeted by thieves because the ignition switches in those vehicles are easy to rig.

Sutherland's vehicle was one of five stolen cars recovered by police on Wednesday. Police said of the 90 cars stolen this week, officers have recovered 43 of them.