Photo: Video screenshot from clickondetroit.com
As new vehicles piled up on factory lots while waiting for critical components to be delivered, car thieves had enough time to figure out how to steal them. Several heists targeting Stellatis factory lots around the Detroit area in the past months. It seems that thieves know something about Stellantis vehicles that makes them particularly easy to steal.
According to reports from local media, the thieves target the most expensive vehicles around Stellatins’s plant in Sterling Heights and are doing this regularly for the past few months. The scenario is well familiar and comes straight from the Gone in 60 seconds movie. Only this time, instead of stealing the keys, the thieves use software to emulate the key fob signals and drive off the vehicles.
According to the Michigan State Police reports obtained by TV station WXYZ, the thieves have been using tablets to gain access to the most expensive vehicles on the factory lots. Among them are Ram Rebel TRX pickups, Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawks, Dodge Charger Hellcats, and Challenger Hellcats, each of them worth around $100,000.
One surveillance video shows three Ram pickups and a high-end Jeep busting through the gate of a Stellantis storage facility in Shelby Township. The stealings have started as far as last October, as a Dodge dealer in Highland has found out. Out of the four vehicles that were stolen back then, only three have been recovered, while three teens were arrested in connection to the incident.
“Stellantis is working with the Sterling Heights Police Department regarding the theft of several vehicles early Tuesday morning (March 15 – A/N) from a shipping yard that services the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant managed by a third party,” reads a Stellantis statement sent to the media. "As this is an open investigation, the Company is not commenting any further on what vehicles were stolen or how they were stolen.”
Modern vehicles employ keyless entry and start systems that are easy to hack. It appears that Stellantis vehicles are a lot easier to steal than others, as the thieves have targeted exclusively the group’s vehicles. The car thieves are using teenagers because they can get away easily, as first-time offenders, when they get caught.
According to the Michigan State Police reports obtained by TV station WXYZ, the thieves have been using tablets to gain access to the most expensive vehicles on the factory lots. Among them are Ram Rebel TRX pickups, Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawks, Dodge Charger Hellcats, and Challenger Hellcats, each of them worth around $100,000.
One surveillance video shows three Ram pickups and a high-end Jeep busting through the gate of a Stellantis storage facility in Shelby Township. The stealings have started as far as last October, as a Dodge dealer in Highland has found out. Out of the four vehicles that were stolen back then, only three have been recovered, while three teens were arrested in connection to the incident.
“Stellantis is working with the Sterling Heights Police Department regarding the theft of several vehicles early Tuesday morning (March 15 – A/N) from a shipping yard that services the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant managed by a third party,” reads a Stellantis statement sent to the media. "As this is an open investigation, the Company is not commenting any further on what vehicles were stolen or how they were stolen.”
Modern vehicles employ keyless entry and start systems that are easy to hack. It appears that Stellantis vehicles are a lot easier to steal than others, as the thieves have targeted exclusively the group’s vehicles. The car thieves are using teenagers because they can get away easily, as first-time offenders, when they get caught.
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