A Seattle car thief’s prize quickly became his prison after BMW corporate remotely locked the stolen vehicle, trapping the suspect inside last weekend.
A newly married man discovered his BMW 550i was missing last Sunday, the day after his wedding. A friend left the car unlocked with the keys inside in a parking garage after borrowing the Bimmer, according to
SPD Blotter.The man called the theft into Seattle police, who contacted BMW. Employees at BMW’s corporate headquarters were able to give officers the exact location of the car and were able to remotely lock the 550i, trapping the suspect. Forty-five minutes after the initial theft, Seattle police located the missing car idling in an alley with the offender snoozing behind the wheel. Officers woke the suspect, who then tried, and failed to make a get away. The 38-year-old man was then arrested for car theft and drug possession, thanks to a bag of meth found on his person.
BMW allows owners with a service called Connected Drive to contact a call center if they are locked out of their vehicles or need GPS assistance. While this service seems like a boon for any car owner, it is not without its problems. Last year, German researchers revealed BMWs with
Connected Drive had essentially no defenses against hackers. BMW ended up sending out patches to fix the security issues. BMW isn’t the only automaker to suffer from security problems. Earlier this year,
Nissan had to suspend its NissanConnect EV app after security holes were discovered by owners.
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