According to the Oakland, CA police, carjackings in Raider Nation occur at the rate of about one per day. While we don't follow the news out of Oaktown on a regular basis, we're fairly certain most carjackings don't make the daily paper. So why then has the LA Times covered a carjacking in Oakland? Well, it seems that the victim was a state senator who police believe was targeted because of his car's flashy rims.

Don Perata (D - DUB City Oakland) was driving his Senate-owned 2006 Dodge Charger shod with 22-inch chrome wheels and a Candy Apple Red paint job when he was startled by a man knocking on his window... with a gun. The jacker instructed him to get out of the car, so out went the pol, in went the perp, and "poof" went the blinged Charger as it sped off with an accomplice giving chase in a 2000 Camaro (also stolen, wheel status unknown). Perata was shaken up but otherwise fine, recovering enough to go into eye-rollingly opportunistic politician mode, noting that the brandishing of a firearm by the carjacker served to only further solidify his pro gun control stance.

The best line in the article comes in a quote from a police officer who, after hearing the Charger's description, responded, "We're talking about the suspect's car or the senator's car?" Even at 62, Senator Perata appears to have been keeping it real, so to speak.

UPDATE: The car's been found with the rims still on it.

Thanks for the tip, Dave!

[Source: Los Angeles Times]