Photo: Erin Hatzi
Having your car stolen is incredibly upsetting, and there is nothing that can lessen the shock of seeing your parking space empty when you knew nobody else had access to your car.
A woman from Portland, Oregon, discovered her 2001 Subaru Impreza wagon got stolen on the evening of October 25, 2016. She published a post on her Facebook page, which included security camera footage of someone getting into the vehicle and driving off with it.
The apparent theft took place on Tuesday night, and she discovered it the next day and filed a police report. In an incredibly fortunate chain of events, a woman brought her Subaru back, and she was also stopped by police as she pulled over in front of Erin Hatzi’s driveway.
She had left a written note in the passenger seat, along with $30 in cash for the fuel that was used while the car was not in the owner’s hands.
After getting her car back, Erin Hatzi published another post on her Facebook wall, which included a photo and a transcript of the letter she found in her vehicle. The unintentional thief of the vehicle was a friend of the woman that had written the letter and returned the car.
The letter explained that she also had a red Subaru, which was parked only a block away from the vehicle owned by Erin Hatzi. The unnamed person who also owned a red Impreza wagon had asked her friend to pick up her car and had given her the keys. Somehow, the person seen in the security camera footage mistakenly climbed into another Subaru and drove off with the vehicle.
As Hatzi explained to KGW, she was surprised by the thief’s mysterious behavior, which included idling the car in the owner’s driveway for about two or three minutes. No self-respecting thief would lose that much time when stealing a car, especially after the engine was already started.
In her Facebook post, Erin Hatzi wrote that she inquired about the possibility of her car being opened by another Subaru key, and she says that police officers confirmed it was possible. If the key did not have a transponder and the car did not have an alarm on it, there is a possibility that a set of factory keys could open and even start two or more cars.
We visited a locksmith website that featured a list of Subaru models and the types of keys they employ. The Japanese brand does not have a single model that was being made in 2001 and sold with a transponder key, at least when it comes to the U.S. market. Only cars made by Subaru after 2005 started offering that feature around the world.
The apparent theft took place on Tuesday night, and she discovered it the next day and filed a police report. In an incredibly fortunate chain of events, a woman brought her Subaru back, and she was also stopped by police as she pulled over in front of Erin Hatzi’s driveway.
She had left a written note in the passenger seat, along with $30 in cash for the fuel that was used while the car was not in the owner’s hands.
After getting her car back, Erin Hatzi published another post on her Facebook wall, which included a photo and a transcript of the letter she found in her vehicle. The unintentional thief of the vehicle was a friend of the woman that had written the letter and returned the car.
The letter explained that she also had a red Subaru, which was parked only a block away from the vehicle owned by Erin Hatzi. The unnamed person who also owned a red Impreza wagon had asked her friend to pick up her car and had given her the keys. Somehow, the person seen in the security camera footage mistakenly climbed into another Subaru and drove off with the vehicle.
As Hatzi explained to KGW, she was surprised by the thief’s mysterious behavior, which included idling the car in the owner’s driveway for about two or three minutes. No self-respecting thief would lose that much time when stealing a car, especially after the engine was already started.
In her Facebook post, Erin Hatzi wrote that she inquired about the possibility of her car being opened by another Subaru key, and she says that police officers confirmed it was possible. If the key did not have a transponder and the car did not have an alarm on it, there is a possibility that a set of factory keys could open and even start two or more cars.
We visited a locksmith website that featured a list of Subaru models and the types of keys they employ. The Japanese brand does not have a single model that was being made in 2001 and sold with a transponder key, at least when it comes to the U.S. market. Only cars made by Subaru after 2005 started offering that feature around the world.
Google News