The local news is completely baffled by this heist…
In the early morning hours of October 31, a blue Dodge Challenger was swiped from a small dealership’s lot in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. That might not sound shocking at all, especially since we’ve covered some pretty high-flying dealership heists in the past, but this one comes with a mystery that has the local news baffled. After all, the thief was able to get the Mopar muscle car started without getting the keys from the dealership office first.
See a Dodge Hellcat stolen in just minutes here.
That’s right, surveillance video shows the lone car thief just break out the passenger window on the Dodge, climb inside, then get the engine started in just 14 seconds. Dealership employee Bryan White was interviewed by the local news, which seems completely baffled the guy didn’t need to keys to start the car, and he explained his belief the guy had a signal transmitter on him.
Thieves will use these transmitters or signal boosters to capture the radio signal from the key fob and extend it to the car, tricking the vehicle into sensing the keys are right there. That would allow someone to start the engine without getting the keys and it’s quick. However, it would also allow the thief to just open the door. So why did he break the window first?
There’s no way the guy could program a new key to the car in just 14 seconds. We’ve seen thieves do that in a few minutes, but this was too quick for that.
Interestingly, the thief did try to swipe a Dodge Charger Hellcat before settling for the Challenger. He broke the window on the other Mopar but didn’t seem able to get the thing started. According to White, the keys for that car weren’t in the dealership office at the time, so likely he couldn’t intercept the signal to start the engine.
There is a possibility White is right and the thief did use a transmitter, which doesn’t explain why he chose to break the windows. The good news is there’s a fairly easy fix for the problem. Signal-blocking material sold in rolls at many online stores allow you to turn any enclosure into a Faraday Cage, so the dealership could do that with their key storage box. Actually, all dealers should do the same since we’ve seen thieves use this trick to swipe cars.
Source: CBS 17
