Six days after their Oct. 4 wedding at Grand View Lodge, Brianne Wilbury and her husband stopped at Sociable Cider Werks, a favorite date spot. Their car still had “Just Married” on the back window.
“I look over and see a car that says ‘just married,’” Wilbury said. “I thought, oh good for them. Then I realized, that’s my car.”
Wilbury said someone pulled a white car behind theirs, broke the driver’s-side lock, removed the panel by the ignition and started the vehicle with a USB cable.
“It took them about 30 seconds, and then my car was gone,” she said.
The car was later found in the Dinkytown/Marcy-Holmes area, Wilbury said. Several items were missing, including a wood-burned wedding sign her father made and keepsakes the couple collected while living in Colorado.
“I’m happy they found the car, but you only get one of them,” Wilbury said. “My dad could make another, but it wasn’t there. It didn’t see the ceremony.”
Wilbury lost her mother when she was 10. She said the sign mattered because, “it’s not like I can ask my mom to make me a wedding present,” adding, “this was really important — to have something my dad touched and worked on.”
Wilbury says staff and patrons at the cidery tried to help.
“People were already on their phones, ready to call, and the bartender gave us a free round,” Wilbury said.
One person followed the car to try to get a license plate number, she said.
Wilbury isn’t focused on arrests; she wants the sign back.
“If someone does have it, I’d really like it back,” she said. “Even if it’s broken in two pieces — there’s always wood glue.”
“Even if they take my car, they cannot take my marriage,” she said.
Beverly Hills officials dismiss Trump’s claims that residents leave their cars unlocked to prevent damage from thieves
Credit: Andy via Adobe Stock
This week, the city of Beverly Hills responded after President Donald Trump claimed residents intentionally leave their cars unlocked to avoid damage from thieves.
Trump claimed residents in the wealthy neighborhood take extreme measures to protect property while speaking in the Oval Office about crime in U.S. cities. “They leave their trunk open for their car because they know they’re gonna be vandalized,” Trump said. “They don’t want the trunk ripped off in order for them to steal what’s in the bag. They leave the doors open, so when they go in to steal the radio or whatever they take, that they don’t rip off the door.”
Trump made this comment as he defended his decision to deploy National Guard troops to cities like Los Angeles and Washington D.C., under the claim that local leaders failed to restore order.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta dismissed Trump’s claim, saying, “Unfortunately, he doesn’t make fact-based, evidence-based decisions. He has an agenda.”
In a statement, Beverly Hills officials responded, saying they are not aware of residents leaving vehicles unlocked or open to prevent damage from thieves. Police data shows overall crime in the city increased in 2022 and 2023, but decreased in 2024.
This is not the first time Trump has singled out Beverly Hills. He made similar claims about crime at a Republican National Convention event in Orange County, failing to cite law enforcement sources in both cases.
Minneapolis Police Department says three juveniles are in custody in connection with the city’s car break-in spree. Over 100 break-ins were reported overnight throughout Minneapolis and its suburbs. This marks roughly 580 reported break-ins since July 15.
On Tuesday when the sun came up near 41st and Vincent.
“You can’t really drive when they’re breaking the windows of your cars,” said Will Ackerman, who lives in Minneapolis’ Linden Hills neighborhood.
It’s clean up time for both Will Ackerman and his grandma across the street.
“This is a lot of cars, a lot of damage,” said his grandma Berde Ackerman.
Minneapolis Police say over 100 cars were broken into overnight Monday into Tuesday across town and several suburbs. That brings the total to more than 580 since July 15th, when MPD says the spree began.
“Stopping this problem has been one of our top priorities,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “We have recovered two stolen vehicles earlier today we believe were involved in some of the damage, and we have three juveniles now in custody.”
Minneapolis Police say they’re still looking for others involved in the hundreds of break-ins, the problem is expanding. Bloomington was hit in July with 40 cars smashed in the Great Wolf Lodge parking lot.
Police in Edina arrested six people in connection with similar crimes earlier.
But catching the prowlers is only part of the solution. Prosecuting presents another problem.
“In order to have a case against someone for one particular vehicle, we have ve to be able to prove a specific person damaged a specific vehicle,” O’Hara added.
Making investigations into each and every report, like Berde Ackerman’s, extremely labor intensive.
“It happens everywhere, but I didn’t think it wouldn’t happen here,” said Ackerman.
Chief O’Hara says they believe separate juvenile groups are causing the spree. He asks you to call 911 if you see or hear something right away. The quicker they respond, the easier it is for them to catch the suspects.
Frankie McLister, originally from Middletown, Maryland, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
BLAINE, Minn. — It was back in April when Lyra Robinson said her 2019 BMW X5 was stolen from her home in suburban Chicago.
While her vehicle was recovered by authorities in Minnesota, it wouldn’t start, so she brought it to Best Auto Body in Blaine.
To get the problem diagnosed, Robinson assumed the cost would be a few hundred dollars.
When the body shop found out Robinson had insurance, she said she found out the shop was charging $2,500 just for a diagnostic.
Robinson said her insurance company, Trexis Insurance, conducted a four-month investigation into the charges.
“During this investigation, Best Auto Body never called me and said, ‘oh we’re going to charge you. We’re going to start charging you storage, because they’re taking too long doing your investigation,’” said Robinson.
Robinson alleges she then received another price tag and an ultimatum: Pay $30,000 for the cost of storing her car for several months, or Best Auto Body will send it to auction.
Robinson alleges none of the paperwork she received had written notice of storage fees.
The owner of Best Auto Body, Kiril Sheyman, would not answer questions, but did send a written statement, which said in part, “We have been working with insurance for months. While the matter is still pending with insurance, we don’t feel that it is appropriate to comment.”
E-mails between the insurance agent and Best Auto Body show the first mention of storage fees came in July. In that exchange, Robinson’s insurance agent appeared to point the finger at her own client, writing that Robinson was not authorized to take her vehicle to the shop until the insurance investigation was complete.
According to Minnesota’s Law, “At the time a shop provides a customer with a written estimate, the shop shall inform the customer that any charge for storage or care…shall be in addition to the estimated price for the repairs.”
A spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau in Minnesota and North Dakota wrote in an e-mail, “From a standpoint of ethics and transparency, BBB’s expectation of any business charging “storage fees” would be that those fees are conspicuously disclosed, so that the customer can make an informed decision on how and whether to proceed.”
All of this while Robinson deals with heart-related health issues, requiring doctor’s appointments twice-a-week. She said she’s had to rely on rideshares in the meantime.
Robinson says her next step is reaching out to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
“I’m just praying that I can get some help to help me resolve this issue,” said Robinson.
New data from the FBI shows that violent crime fell significantly in 2023, but motor vehicle thefts soared for the second year in a row. Motor vehicle theft increased by more than 12.5%, the highest rate recorded since 2007. Former FBI special agent Daniel Brunner joins CBS News to examine what’s driving the uptick.
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The sheriff’s office responds to calls throughout Hennepin County; that includes Minneapolis and its suburbs, with a population of 1.26 million.
The sheriff’s office tracks the counties’ key crime statistics. Violent offenses year to date have increased 5% over 2023, property offenses have decreased 6% and auto thefts have decreased a strong 25%. Auto thefts are also down in Minneapolis year to date, with 3,895 this year compared with 5,118 at this time last year. Carjacking figures in Minneapolis have remained flat.
Sheriff Dawanna Witt has been in office for just over a year and a half. She was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m.
“We implemented a new auto theft team, which are out there proactively not just preventing car thefts but actually recovering vehicles so people aren’t left without their property for long periods of time,” Witt said. “We know how much of a strain that can be on family, work when people do not have their vehicle and let’s not even mention insurance costs.”
Witt says it’s been a difficult year for local law enforcement. In February, there was the fatal shooting of two Burnsville police officers, Paul Elmstrand and Mathew Ruge. Firefighter-paramedic Adam Finseth was also shot and killed in that incident.
In May, Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell was fatally shot. The month before, Hennepin County sheriff’s deputy Christopher Heihn was shot in the arm while serving a warrant. He survived and was released from the hospital the next day.
Witt says these attacks on law enforcement have doubled since 2017 and the sheriff says they have simply got to stop.
You can watch WCCO Sunday Morning with Esme Murphy and Adam Del Rosso every Sunday at 6 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Esme Murphy, a reporter and Sunday morning anchor for WCCO-TV, has been a member of the WCCO-TV staff since December 1990. She is also a weekend talk show host on WCCO Radio. Born and raised in New York City, Esme ventured into reporting after graduating from Harvard University.
The woman accused of stealing an SUV that was outside a D.C. hospital with an ill patient in the passenger seat was found incompetent to stand trial Tuesday.
Kayla Kenisha Brown, 22, of Southeast, is accused of crashing the stolen car into a downtown D.C. building in early June. The passenger, 55-year-old Leslie Marie Gaines, of Northeast D.C., died shortly after the crash.
Brown, who has been charged with carjacking, was committed Tuesday to Saint Elizabeths Hospital for treatment for “restoration of competence,” according to court documents. Another hearing regarding her ability to stand trial will be held Aug. 16.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Heidi Pasichow ruled that Brown “is likely to attain competence in the foreseeable future, or additional time is necessary to assess whether the defendant is likely to attain competence in the foreseeable future.”
According to court documents, Brown was taken to Washington Hospital Center on June 3 after her parents told police she had possibly taken a drug and had been acting “crazy” for days.
However, officers left the emergency room around 12:45 p.m. that day, and at some point, according to police, she left her family.
Meanwhile, Gaines, the passenger of the carjacked vehicle, had just finished a physical therapy session at the hospital’s rehab center when she reportedly began feeling sick, according to court documents.
Gaines’ daughter drove her over to the ER and left Gaines in the vehicle, with the keys inside and the engine running, while she went inside to get help with moving her mother into a wheelchair.
That’s when authorities say Brown entered the SUV, got behind the wheel and drove away with the Gaines still in the passenger seat, according to police.
Brown’s defense lawyers have argued that what transpired does not fit the definition of carjacking, since the SUV was left unattended.
In 2023, more than one million vehicles were stolen across the country. The District and Maryland each saw a drastic rise in thefts when compared to the previous year, with theft percentage increases of over 60%.
Vehicle thefts have been surging nationwide, but D.C. and Maryland top the list in percentage increases, according to a new report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a nonprofit organization that tracks crime and fraud.
In 2023, more than one million vehicles were stolen across the country. The District and Maryland each saw a drastic rise in thefts when compared to the previous year, with theft percentage increases of 64% and 63%, respectively.
Coming in third was Connecticut, which had an increase of 33%.
“Some of our community members have told us that their vehicle has been stolen more than once,” said Cpt. Lovita Bryant with Prince George’s County police.
Bryant said a lot of the thefts stemmed from certain models of Hyundai and Kia vehicles being frequently targeted.
“Last year and in 2022, it was definitely a big spike, but it seems to be calming down a little bit,” Bryant said.
The vehicles are not equipped with immobilizing anti-theft devices, which has allowed thieves to easily steal them using household supplies. Immobilizers are meant to prevent a vehicle from starting when someone tries to use a key or key fob that doesn’t match the car.
The wave of Hyundai and Kia thefts began in 2021 and spread nationally, with a spike last summer fueled by instructional videos posted on social media.
“The Hyundais and Kias have been hurting us pretty bad,” said Bryant. “It unfortunately went viral on TikTok a couple of years ago, so that is one of the biggest trends that we’ve seen.”
Bryant said many of the thieves are just going for “joy rides,” as police tend to eventually recover the stolen vehicles.
Police have urged owners of the vulnerable vehicles to get software upgrades whenever they’re available and to use anti-theft devices, such as steering wheel locks.
“We’ve been working with Hyundai and Kia to get more vehicle wheel locks out there,” said Prince George’s County police Cpt. Koby Wiles. “We’ve been trying to provide knowledge to the public in as many ways possible.”
Theft increases have been more pronounced in urban centers with densely populated areas, according to the NICB report.
“I’m not surprised by it, especially with the higher population that we have around here,” Wiles said. “In the D.C. region, you’re going to see those higher numbers because we have a higher population.”
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SAN FRANCISCO — Camaros are high on thieves radars’ right now in Northern and Southern California.
According to SFPD figures, there were 21 Camaro thefts reported in 2022, 46 in 2023 and 15 Camaro thefts so far in 2024.
According to Los Angeles police figures, there were seven Camaro thefts reported at this time in 2023. So far this year, 90 thefts have been reported.
Police often find stolen Camaros at illegal street takeovers or the thieves try to resell the cars.
“We quite often find them where they are turning around and posting them on social media to sell them – $40,000 – $50,000 car – to sell them for $3,000,” LAPD Sgt. Arnold Castellanos said.
Authorities say car thieves are able to start Camaros through key-cloning devices that simulate key fob technology.
“Many consumers have heard of the increase in key fob cloning and the theft of other kinds of vehicles,” said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog. “We have seen this problem with other cars impact consumers’ abilities to get auto insurance.”
She says insurance companies can’t just increase prices overnight.
“They have to go to the insurance commissioner, prove that these thefts have, in fact, caused increased losses and get approval for any increase in prices,” she said.
Castellanos advice?
“Install some kind of kill-switch,” he said. “And install a second type of GPS tracking other products like LoJack and OnStar. Those will help us help find the vehicle.”
Balber says this should be a wakeup call to manufacturers, too.
“We can tell individual consumers, ‘oh there’s a flaw with your car, these are ways to try and get around and protect your car from getting stolen,’” she said. “But what we need is action higher up at the manufacturer level to make sure that it isn’t so easy to clone those fobs to begin with.”
A man was arrested after he allegedly tried to steal a Waymo car that had just dropped off a passenger in Los Angeles, according to police.
The attempted car theft happened Saturday night after a self-driving Jaguar sedan belonging to the Waymo company dropped off a passenger on Main Street near 1st Street. There, 33-year-old Vincent Maurice Jones got into the car and in the driver’s seat, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
Jones tried to put the car in “drive” but was unsuccessful.
A Waymo employee used the car’s communication system to order the suspect to exit the vehicle. After Jones refused to comply, the employee called LAPD.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted grand theft auto.
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — As the state increases efforts to crack down on car thefts, DMV investigators recovered 286 stolen cars valued at nearly $8.6 million and $152,000 in stolen auto parts in 2023. This is nearly twice the amount of parts that were recovered in 2022.
Gov. Kathy Hochul initiated a five-point plan called the Comprehensive Auto-Theft Reduction Strategy (CARS) to combat the increase in auto thefts in New York. This campaign includes:
$5 million toward prevention programs for teens and young adults in the most impacted areas across the state
New York State Police has increased enforcement in high-theft areas
District attorneys will receive federal help in prosecuting a large number of cases
New York launched a new website to provide resources and education to help New Yorkers take precautions against auto theft
The governor and NYS DMV sent a letter to New Yorkers owning a Kia or Hyundai warning them of the increase in theft of their specific cars
The letter advises the owners of these cars of free tools available to prevent their cars from being stolen
According to the state, car thefts increased 67% across New York in 2023, excluding New York City. The National Insurance Crime Bureau released a list of tips on how to prevent auto theft for those concerned with the safety of their cars.
Workers at Arlington Auto Wrecking in Akron, Ohio prevented a car theft in a unique way. Frustrated with repeated thefts and break-ins, they employed an unusual method that grabbed headlines and amused law enforcement and the public alike.
The High-Flying Capture
It all unfolded when a man attempted to steal a car from the junkyard.
The workers, upon realizing the theft in progress, ingeniously used a forklift on the property. They hoisted the vehicle, with the thief still inside, approximately 20 feet into the air.
This quick thinking effectively trapped the perpetrator until the police arrived on the scene. The bodycam footage from the responding officers captured the surreal sight: a car dangling in mid-air, much to the amusement of the police and workers.
A Creative Solution to a Persistent Car Theft Problem
Arlington Auto Wrecking had been a repeated target for thieves, leading to growing frustration among its employees. Thefts, particularly of catalytic converters, had become a commonplace nuisance. The staff’s patience wore thin after multiple break-ins, and they were determined to take a stand against this latest intrusion.
Police found the suspect, a 26-year-old male, with tools intended for stealing copper from the junkyard’s cars. The workers’ quick reaction led to his arrest for criminal trespassing and possessing criminal tools.
The suspect already had an outstanding warrant for disorderly conduct. He is scheduled to appear in court on the latest charges.
The Aftermath: Laughter and Legal Proceedings
Upon their arrival, the police officers, along with the 911 operator, couldn’t contain their amusement at the workers’ ingenuity. The incident, though serious, brought a moment of levity to the officers and the 911 dispatcher. Local news writers and social media fans hailed the creativity of the Arlington Auto Wrecking employees as both effective and humorous.
The incident ended with the suspect taken into custody by police and facing multiple charges. His attempted theft was foiled and is now a spectacle for local news and social media. The creative justice served by the auto workers became a topic of discussion and a warning to potential thieves about the lengths to which the staff would go to protect their property.
This incident serves as a reminder that sometimes, thinking outside the box can be the most effective way to tackle a problem.
You arrive home and toss your car keys on a table near your front door. It’s an ordinary habit that is all today’s thieves need to launch a “relay attack” to capture the signal from your key fob, unlock your car and drive it away. And it’s just one of the high-tech methods more criminals are adopting to steal cars.
Experts say in recent years, car thieves have increasingly targeted keyless entry vehicles by breaching the computer systems that are built into the cars’ communication network.
Less than a minute to reprogram a key fob
The latest method capturing the attention of car security experts is the “CAN bus attack.” “CAN” stands for “controller area network,” and the “CAN bus” is the auto industry term used to describe the message-based electronic system that allows various parts of the vehicle to communicate with each other.
“Probably the most common one that I do see is actual key programmers that you can just plug into the vehicle’s diagnostic port or onto the CAN bus network,” said Steve Lobello, owner of S&A Security in the Chicago suburb of River Grove, Illinois.
“It’s basically the nervous center in the vehicle where everything has to process,” said Lobello. “You can pretty much do things such as delete keys, program, new keys, and just basically speak to the vehicle.”
Lobello says the tablets that locksmiths and security specialists use to reprogram key fobs have been stolen or can be bought online legally by thieves looking for a way to hack into targeted cars.
We won’t reveal exactly how he did it, but Lobello used one of these tablets to demonstrate how quickly he could gain access to a vehicle’s main frame and reprogram a key.
It took him less than a minute.
High value target
Ivy Stryker of Farmington, Michigan, became a victim of the CAN bus attack not once but twice. The first time, his car was parked against a brick wall at an apartment complex.
“It’s about 1 a.m., my phone goes off, my iPads are going off, alarm sounds everywhere,” said Stryker. He ran outside to find another vehicle next to his and a stranger inside his car. “A guy’s popping out the top of the moonroof.”
Stryker had no illusions about how tempting his Dodge Charger Hellcat would be to thieves and had a security system installed to protect it.
“When I was looking at the thing, I already knew that it was one of the most, if not the most stolen car,” said Stryker.
According to a recent report from the Highway Loss Data Institute, the Charger SRT Hellcat ranked as the No. 1 targeted car built between 2020 and 2022. It’s 60 times more likely to be stolen than any other car built in that same time period.
“If you own a Hellcat, you better check your driveway,” Matt Moore, the organization’s senior vice president, said in a statement on the institute’s website. “These numbers are unbelievable.”
Car thefts in general are up across makes and models nationwide. More than one million cars were stolen in 2022, the highest number since 2008, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the insurance industry association that tracks annual vehicle thefts.
That’s about two vehicles stolen every minute.
Trying to stay one step ahead
“The criminal organizations and the suspects are always looking for what the security protocols are and how to defeat them,” said NICB President & CEO David Glawe.
“We work with the insurance industry and the manufacturers to identify these vulnerabilities and to try to slim this gap,” said Glawe. “But we’re always having to stay one step ahead of the criminals, and they’re always trying to stay one step ahead of us.”
For years the bureau has publicized the number cars stolen due to keys being left inside vehicles — 287,024 between 2019 and 2021. But that represents just a fraction — 11% — of the total number of cars — more than 2.6 million — that were stolen during the same time.
“We have the real raw information of stolen vehicles. But how they’re stolen, it comes down to the local law enforcement,” said Glawe. “When you document and report, you have to put that in a police report. If that’s not captured by an algorithm or report, it’s hard necessarily to track.”
NICB told us they don’t break down exactly how the vehicles were stolen, and we learned the auto industry doesn’t track this data either.
Automakers provide few answers
Concerned that keyless entry systems “may be contributing to rising rates of vehicle theft,” in July 2022 U.S. Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, sent letters to 17 carmakers urging them to “…take all necessary steps to ensure that keyless entry systems, once a security innovation that deterred thieves, do not become a security liability for them to exploit.”
In the dozen responses that came back, while automakers all stated a commitment to theft prevention, none could provide the exact number of their vehicles that had been stolen or details on the method car thieves used to steal them.
Some industry experts suggest automakers should be tracking this data to help combat the rise in vehicle thefts.
“I think it’s incredibly important because unless the industry has a knowledge of how vehicles are being compromised, then, you know, nothing’s going to be done about it,” said former detective Clive Wain, who now works as head of police liaison for Tracker UK, a company that specializes in recovering stolen cars in the United Kingdom.
Wain says a spike in hot-wiring thefts during the 1980s put pressure on auto manufacturers to enhance vehicle security. That led to the modernization of vehicle locking mechanisms, and the introduction of “smarter” key systems and vehicle immobilizer technology.
Since then, Wain says, organized criminal groups have developed capabilities to download data from these key transponder fobs, and by downloading data via the vehicles’ onboard diagnostic device, they could clone and upload that data onto a “donor” key for that specific make and model of vehicle.
“Circa 2015, in the U.K., as some manufacturers were introducing ‘keyless entry’ vehicles, instances of electronic compromise started to surface where this technology had been compromised. The most prevalent method progressively has become the ‘relay attack,’” said Wain. ”More recently, we have seen the significant emergence of ‘CAN bus’ compromise attacks.”
Tracker UK makes a practice of collecting monthly high-tech car theft data.
Their numbers show that in July 2023, keyless car theft reached an all-time high in the U.K., accounting for 98% of all stolen vehicles the company helped recover in that one-month period.
“As quickly as manufacturers start to [update vehicle locking] technology for security purposes, that technology is being reverse-engineered — almost within a matter of days or weeks,” said Wain. “I think manufacturers have known about the vulnerability for some years, but it takes many, many years to develop technology on a production line and it’s a costly process.”
Wain says while keyless entry technology was initially developed and introduced in more high-end makes and models, it has now been extended to most mainstream vehicles, making them much more vulnerable to this kind of attack and compromise.
Steve Lobello agrees.
“A little more than 90% of vehicles are vulnerable,” he said. “All this information [on breaching a car’s technology] is already out there. It’s readily available on YouTube and social media.”
“It’s not like [thieves] need to go to school to learn how to use this thing,” he added. “YouTube is their school.”
The growing threat of high-tech car theft is why Lobello suggests his clients install an after-market security system (he recommends one called IGLA). These systems, which can cost as much as $1,200, create a firewall to fend off CAN bus attacks, and require the driver to enter a pre-programmed code using a combination of existing factory buttons in sequence to start the car. Even if a thief manages to plug into a vehicle’s CAN bus, without the secondary button code authentication, the car will shut down and be immobilized.
Lobell installed one of the systems in Ivy Stryker’s Dodge Charger, and the investment paid off:
thieves who attempted to steal it were thwarted – two times. In one of those cases, when the car wouldn’t start, the criminals resorted to using a second car to push the Dodge. They made it 17 miles before giving up and ditching the car on the side of the road. Stryker later tracked it down via GPS.
Stryker believes automakers should be the ones stepping up to solve the problem.
“It’s too easy now. The onus should be on the manufacturer,” said Stryker. “It should be their responsibility to tighten up their security as much as possible.”
In a statement, Stellantis, which makes the Dodge Charger, told CBS News that their vehicles “…meet or exceed all applicable federal standards for safety and security. …Notwithstanding, we urge all motorists to take due care in securing their vehicles.”
Experts say consumers don’t have to install expensive after-market security systems to minimize the risk of being “carhacked.” Other precautions can include storing keys in a metal container, signal-blocking pouch or “Faraday Box,” to prevent relay attacks.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau recommends a “layered approach,” adding on physical protection like steering column locks, alarms and tracking devices. Ironically, high-tech thieves may be deterred when confronting low-tech protection measures.
Despite being easier to steal, Kia vehicles are not car thieves’ number-one target, a new report shows. The unfortunate distinction belongs to the Charger SRT Hellcat, which is 60 times more likely to be stolen than any other car built between 2020 and 2022.
That’s according to the Highway Loss Data Institute’s list of the most-stolen vehicles for 2020-2022 models. Twenty-five Hellcat cars from model years 2020-22 had been reported stolen in insurance claims out of every 1,000 insured vehicle years, according to the report. By comparison, the most stolen car among 2017-19 model year vehicles, the Infiniti Q60, only had 2 theft claims for every 1,000 insured vehicle years.
“If you own a Hellcat, you better check your driveway,” Matt Moore HLDI senior vice president said in a statement on the institute’s website. “These numbers are unbelievable.”
Also on HLDI’s list is the Kia Sportage, which notched the sixth-highest spot, ahead of the Land Rover Range Rover 4WD and Infiniti Q50 4WD. Other Kia models like the Sportage 4WD, Rio and Forte rounded out the ranking.
Thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles rose sharply across the U.S. over the past two years after a TikTok challenge instructing people how to steal the vehicles using a USB cord and a screwdriver went viral.
The cars’ vulnerability stemmed from the fact that from 2011 to 2022, South Korean automakers Kia and Hyundai opted not to equip their cars sold in the U.S. with “engine immobilizers,” making the cars easier to steal. The manufacturing flaw was at the center of a class-action lawsuit that the cars’ manufacturer settled for $200 million in May.
HDLI assembled its ranking using data from vehicle theft claims made to insurance companies across the U.S. The data only accounts for whole-car theft claims, and excludes claims for stolen vehicle parts and stolen items found within vehicles.
The study reveals that vehicle theft claims are rising overall. Other data also shows car thefts are surging. Vehicle thefts rose 59% across 30 U.S. from 2019 to 2022, an analysis from the Council on Criminal Justice shows.
Electric vehicles where among the 20 models with the fewest claims, along with cars manufactured by General Motors. HLDI accounts for the lower theft frequency which it says is typical of EVs, to the likelihood of their being parked “overnight in well-lit and comparatively secure areas for charging.”
View the complete lists of vehicles with the highest and lowest claim frequencies for whole-vehicle theft here.
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer learned a lesson about his car keys after his vehicle was stolen as he hosted a Fargo radio show.
Schafer was guest hosting KFGO’s “News and Views” program Friday morning when police called the station to ask if he owned a 2020 GMC Yukon, the station reported.
It turns out that the SUV had been stolen out of the station’s parking lot. The thief apparently drove it to a probation office and surrendered to authorities, Schafer said.
The vehicle has a push-button start feature and requires a key fob to be in the vehicle before it can be operated. But Schafer had left a spare fob inside, enabling the thief to start it up and drive off.
The former governor and U.S. agriculture secretary says he’s been warned about being more careful.
“My wife for 31 years has said, ‘Why don’t you lock your car?’” Schafer said.
You head to your car in the morning, as you do every day. But today, you’re horrified to discover it isn’t where you parked it the night before. It’s a heart-sinking moment Americans across the country wake up to as cases of car thefts soar.
More than one million cars were stolen in 2022, the highest number since 2008, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the insurance industry’s association that tracks annual vehicle thefts.
That’s about two vehicles stolen every minute.
The trend impacts consumers whether their car was stolen or not.
“Increased crime rates are going to translate to [paying] a higher premium for your vehicle,” said NICB President and CEO David Glawe.
Thousands of these stolen vehicles are being smuggled out of the country, in some cases in broad daylight, right past U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials at the country’s biggest ports of entry, a CBS News investigation found.
Last year, license plate readers installed at checkpoints in California, Arizona and Texas recorded 2,829 stolen vehicles driven into Mexico, according to the California Highway Patrol.
However, a CBP spokesperson told CBS News just 144 stolen cars were seized on their way into Mexico that same year.
One point of departure is the Port of Newark, New Jersey, where CBP Officer Dean Panzarino and his team are focused on finding stolen cars hidden among the tens of thousands of 20-foot shipping containers that pass through the port every day.
“This year, 2023, is probably the busiest I’ve seen,” said Panzarino.
He relies on years of experience, and his gut, to identify containers that may hold a stolen vehicle.
“We don’t have X-ray eyes. We can’t X-ray all of them.”
Once he reviews paperwork and goes through a process of elimination, his team takes a closer look at containers that arouse suspicion and may require further scrutiny and inspection.
“We’re contracted with the government to take the containers, strip the containers, take everything out of them before we can do our exams,” said Panzarino.
On the Tuesday morning CBS News visited, Panzarino hit the jackpot: a container that held a Maserati, BMW and Ford SUV – all stolen. Several mattresses were used as padding around the vehicles to keep them from being damaged in transit.
“This is a nice hit,” he said.
While Panzarino acknowledges many stolen cars get past him, he says today feels like a win.
“When we open up [a container] like we did today, it was perfect timing,” he said. “Three stolen cars. The day’s made right now.”
Most of the stolen cars seized at the Port of Newark are luxury vehicles. The ones seized on this day were headed to West Africa, a common destination, according to Panzarino. He says many are often headed to the Dominican Republic.
The NICB says its foreign operations unit repatriated more than 2,000 stolen vehicles that had been trafficked to foreign countries in 2022.
It’s part of an ongoing international effort to fight this fast-growing crime.
Last year, law enforcement agencies from 77 countries, with assistance from Interpol, took part in Operation Carback, which resulted in the seizure of 1,121 stolen cars and 64 motorcycles, and the arrest or detention of 222 suspected stolen vehicle traffickers. Interpol maintains a stolen motor vehicle database to fight international vehicle theft and trafficking. In 2020, the database identified nearly a quarter million stolen vehicles.
Cybersecurity consultant Chris Clark’s Range Rover was stolen outside his Los Angeles apartment building in the middle of the night in 2020. He was able to locate it using GPS tracking technology the next morning.
“My car was located in Tijuana, specifically in their red-light district,” Clark said.
Clark called Repo Mexico, a company that usually specializes in repossessing vehicles from owners who are late on loan payments.
“They agreed that they would get eyes on the vehicle and, if they could, they would procure the local police to block it in until I came down across the border to repossess it myself.”
By the time Clark made his way to Tijuana that night, Mexican police had detained the suspected thief in handcuffs. The repo company owners told him he’d been trying to sell the late-model luxury SUV on the street for $5,000.
When Clark approached the suspect, the young man apologized to him.
“He was probably asking himself, like, ‘How the hell has this guy tracked me down within 24 hours to Mexico with his vehicle and had me arrested over here?’”
Ironically, Clark says, it was easier for the thief to get his vehicle across the border into Mexico than it was for him to drive it back home. When he tried to go through the checkpoint at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, his Range Rover was flagged as stolen.
“I told the [officer] what had happened, and he didn’t believe me. So, I was initially arrested.”
He was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for about five hours before the situation was untangled and he was allowed to leave.
“It was an interesting, quick weekend trip to Mexico,” Clark said, laughing.
While Clark thinks the thief who took his car was part of a small operation, the U.S. government is concerned about car thefts in the U.S. that are tied to Mexican cartels.
“Just like weapons. The cartels are constantly looking for vehicles that can be used to be militarized in Mexico,” said Mark Lippa, an assistant special agent in charge with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
Lippa’s team closed out a three-year operation that shut down a sophisticated theft ring that smuggled cars out of Texas to service the cartels.
He says the leader of the ring operated out of Mexico.
“He was actually an El Salvadorian national who had been previously deported from the United States,” said Lippa. “He had cartel connections. His wife [was formerly married to] a high-ranking cartel member.”
The ring’s leader would dispatch scouts to neighborhoods in the Houston area in search of the kind of cars cartels wanted.
“Four-wheel drive vehicles, vehicles that have high clearance like pickup trucks or SUVs,” said Lippa. “They’re also looking at things like the carrying capacity and the payload of those vehicles because they’re going to be transporting cartel soldiers.”
Lippa says the cartels use some vehicles stolen in the U.S. for battle with rivals and the Mexican military.
“We’ve seen them used in Mexican operations like dropping road spikes or what they call cow traps on the roads to be able to quickly pop or deflate the tires of any pursuing law enforcement that may be coming after them,” Lippa said.
In the HSI operation Lippa oversaw, investigators observed the theft ring conspiring with employees at local car dealerships, who provided them with vehicle identification information to cut new keys. The scouts used the keys to access more than 600 cars in the middle of the night, driving them to Mexico before owners could wake up to report their vehicles stolen.
Those cars would have passed through U.S. border checkpoints without notice. But questions remain about the thousands of vehicles that are reported stolen and identified by license plate readers as they’re driven through the same checkpoints, in real time, as they cross into Mexico.
In an email, a CBP spokesperson told CBS News the agency “routinely conducts periodic or targeted departure/outbound examinations in order to check traveler compliance of documentary and other regulatory requirements. CBP works to identify and stop potentially stolen vehicles when identified.” But they won’t pursue stolen cars into Mexico because of jurisdictional limitations.
Back in New Jersey, CBP officer Dean Panzarino is finding some success at the Port of Newark, seizing 288 stolen vehicles from shipping containers bound for foreign destinations since October. But considering the millions of containers that set sail from the port every year, his team can only do so much.
“When I leave here at night, in my mind, I got the stolen cars, and nothing got past me,” said Panzarino. “I know that ain’t true but that’s how I feel.”
Hundreds of Kias and Hyundais have been stolen in the U.S. in the past few months, causing some major insurance companies to drop their coverage of the vehicles, claiming they’re too easy to steal.
2015 Hyundai Santa Fe
Car thieves, with names like the “Kia Boyz,” have preyed upon some Kia and Hyundai cars, manufactured between 2011 and 2019 as part of a social media trend called “keyless car thefts.”
As a result, some major insurance carriers such as Progressive and State Farm are refusing to insure these cars in select cities where the theft is rampant, like Denver and St. Louis, according to CNN.
2016 Kia Soul
“State Farm has temporarily stopped writing new business in some states for certain model years and trim levels of Hyundai and Kia vehicles because theft losses for these vehicles have increased dramatically,” the insurer told CNN. “This is a serious problem impacting our customers and the entire auto insurance industry.”
According to the Highway Loss Data Institute, some Hyundai and Kia models built between 2015 and 2019 are almost twice as likely to be stolen as other cars of a similar age. What makes them so easy to steal? Many lack anti-theft technology, which was standard in 96% of other cars during that period.
Police believe the thefts have been on the rise after videos appeared on social media showing how to start these cars without the use of a key.
The criminals bypass ignition cylinders, allowing them to start and drive off with the car. Robbers shoot videos of themselves stealing cars in mere seconds.
Kia and Hyundai respond
Kia and Hyundai have since added anti-theft devices to all their newer vehicles. For those with older models, Hyundai offers a security kit that customers can install to keep the thieves at bay. The kit can be purchased at Hyundai dealerships and authorized installers. Hyundai is also offering a free software update beginning next month that will reduce theft.
Both companies are working with police to offer free steering wheel locks to vehicle owners. Check with your local dealer.
KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — Cash, purses and wallets were stolen out of multiple cars in Kill Devil Kills on Tuesday night. Police say all the car owners said their cars were left unlocked or they were “unsure” if their car was locked or not.
None of the 23 cars had signs of forced entry and none of the cars were damaged. One of the cars was driven to the parking lot of the Sea Ranch Resort in Kill Devil Hills.
The alleged break-ins happened between midnight and 5 a.m. on Oct. 25, according to Kill Devil Hills Police Department.
The cars targeted were in the north end of Kill Devil Hills between Walker Street on the south and Wallace Street on the north, according to the police department. Some items were stolen from cars also on Bay Drive.
Even though no cars were damaged, police are taking these crimes seriously. Some vehicles have been processed for fingerprints and DNA.
The police ask that if people believe there car was broken into — even if it was unlocked and nothing was stolen — they report it to the Kill Devil Hills Police Department.
“Knowing the location of the break-ins can help KDHPD identify potential security systems that might aid the investigation,” the police wrote on their Facebook page.
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