Earlier this year, we told you about how the FBI found and cracked down on a ring of car thieves who focused their efforts on Hellcats. Now, a new report confirms additional details about the case and even goes as far as to describe the newest way that dealers are keeping their vehicles safe: they’re putting Hellcats in parking boots until they’re sold or delivered to customers.
Back in the early part of this year, federal agents followed a lead involving a vehicle that was involved in the armed robbery of a mail carrier. It led them to a collection of four stolen vehicles. Those vehicles in turn connected the individual involved in the robbery to a four-person car theft ring. The group had stolen dozens of cars but mostly those with Hellcat engines under the hood.
Back when the story first broke, we knew that the thieves were using a locksmith device called a Pro Pad to clone keys and drive away with the vehicles. According to a new report from the Associated Press, the new solution that can beat that piece of high-tech is the good old fashioned boot. That’s right, parking boots are being installed on Hellcats before they even make it to customers.
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Jeff Schneider, the general manager at Szott Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Highland Township, says that after a theft last year that “We put boots on all the Hellcats.” What’s surprising is that he says despite its old-school approach “It’s a deterrent that works amazingly.”
The new report also shed light on why Hellcat vehicles were targeted. The ring specifically looked for high-performance vehicles because they were far more capable of outrunning the police. An Ottawa Country Police officer told the AP that “These cars are going 140-150 mph. All have the Hellcat engines. We had a lot of pursuits. We did not catch them all.”
Now that this particular criminal ring is off of the streets there are four fewer individuals to be on the watch for. Nevertheless, it’s good to know that sometimes it’s the old-school stuff that proves to be a deterrent for thieves.
