Detroit buys wheel locks for Chrysler owners
You know crime is bad when your city wants to give you a free anti-theft device. That's what Detroit is doing for some Chrysler drivers.Detroit PD says many older Chrysler vehicles, particularly the ones without the Sentry Key system, are so easy to steal, young teens are taking them with nothing more than a screwdriver and a brick. A video found in one stolen Chrysler shows a teenager bragging that he had stolen the car in 8 seconds. DPD says the kids are taking the cars, driving them until their tanks are dry, then finding another.
But after one stolen Jeep, driven by a 13-year-old boy, rammed into a car and killed a woman and her baby during a police chase, the city decided a new strategy was needed. The city is offering residents and workers in Detroit's Eastern District wheel locks for their non-Sentry Key Chryslers in an effort to stop the thefts. Part of the project is funded by State Farm Insurance. The police department is also offering free glass etching to all drivers citywide.
You can watch the report by Fox 2 News in Detroit here.
[Source: Fox 2 News via TopSpeed]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Don 6:03PM (6/13/2007)
Sounds like a real honeymoon getaway.
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Brian Dreggors 6:05PM (6/13/2007)
*Insert joke pointing out that this is at least one way to get people into Chryslers here*
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Don 6:07PM (6/13/2007)
Gotta wonder, though...if this is kids stealing all these Chryslers, imagine what they'll do to cars they find the locks on.
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Jaymez 6:13PM (6/13/2007)
Am I the only one who read the headline thinking Detroit was buying wheel locks for the wheels on the outside (they are NOT rims, they're wheels!) and not the steeering wheel?
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J 6:47PM (6/13/2007)
I thought that too! LOL!
JIm in Tampa 7:28PM (6/13/2007)
I thought the same thing!
Gardiner Westbound 6:42PM (6/13/2007)
Have they given any thought to locking up the little buggers forever?
In our area when one is caught in a stolen car the community screams racism and says the kid didn't know the car was stolen. He innocently accepted a ride on his way home from theology classes at the local seminary.
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robz4 11:06PM (6/13/2007)
Yeah I know..You must be talking about Toronto.
paul34 6:47PM (6/13/2007)
Maybe they should have the car shoot flames at anyone who tries to steal it.
Car thieves do not deserve any better. In the case of that 13-year old boy, maybe an "accidental fuel leak" explosion would have been in order to prevent that senseless murder he committed...
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bgdc 6:54PM (6/13/2007)
You can steal old toyotas the same way. An ex-gf had her camry stolen many times by people who knew about the screwdriver trick.
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Gardiner Westbound 6:56PM (6/13/2007)
I liked the Viper anti-theft device in the first Robo-Cop movie. It fricasseed the thief. Coincidentally the movie was set in Detroit.
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spdracerut 7:16PM (6/13/2007)
I personally like the idea of having a Predator unmanned aircraft with some hellfires attached like they use in Iraq, and just blow up the car. No more police chases!
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motorman 7:13PM (6/13/2007)
buy a stick shift as most of these perps can not drive one.
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Arnie 7:31PM (6/13/2007)
Gosh guys, you are talking about blowing up, electrocuting and frying African-Americans! Where is your sense of Politikal Korrektness? ;-)
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Jaymez 7:56PM (6/13/2007)
Umm, nobody is specifying a race. We're talking car jackers, in general. The ones featured in the video happened to be black.
Oh, being black doesn't mean someone is from Africa. Hell, according to evolution, all people are from Africa. If you're a lighter skin, your ancestors happened to leave a little earlier.
John R 8:00AM (6/14/2007)
Thank you Jaymez. Arnie's an ass.
Matt 2:22AM (6/14/2007)
I blame GM for this terrible lapse in quality!
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bmoredlj 9:25AM (6/14/2007)
Ahhh....society. I'm just glad I live in Baltimore, MD...the greatest - and safest - big city in America!
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Jeff the Baptist 9:52AM (6/14/2007)
Yup, hanging horse thieves is starting to make more sense isn't it?
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felipe 9:54AM (6/14/2007)
gonna sound stupid here... i dont get the last line:
"The police department is also offering free glass etching to all drivers citywide. "
etching, is that a joke?
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