American thieves have a new target: airbags and steering wheels. Detroit Police Force have noticed a surge of this kind of vandalism in recent days.
A few years ago, thieves targeted cars for their audio systems, or else they took the whole car in. But a recent trend of thieves is gaining momentum in the United States: They target airbags and steering wheels. The favorite target of criminals? Cars of the General Motors group such as the Chevrolet Malibu, or its SUV brother the Chevrolet Equinox. According to recent information from our colleagues in Detroit, a woman from Eastpointe reports that her car was vandalized this week. Instead of searching for valuables like phones, the thieves simply scavenged the airbags and got behind the wheel.
The victim left nothing of value in the car but was shocked to see what had been stolen: “When I looked up, the rear window on the driver’s side was broken, glass everywhere. I opened the driver’s side door and I no longer had the steering wheel », she said. This complicates the morning commute to work. This type of vandalism was reported 11 times between May 2-3. Criminals usually break the left rear window, which in some cases does not trigger the car’s alarm system.
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No more thefts because of the Covid?
John Channell of Stan Yee Auto Repair told our American colleagues that the confinement made it difficult to buy spare parts, in particular airbags and steering wheels. This therefore led to an explosion in the trade of these coins on the black market.
“It’s easy money. You can take it to different stores that may be able to buy it, and they will immediately give you money for it. Then they’ll just put him in a car he was stolen from. This has already happened ”, did he declare.
According to Channell, the cost of replacing an airbag can be as high as $ 300, but the cost of replacing a steering wheel is much higher due to the technology involved. It can cost thousands of dollars. Channell suggests car owners take extra precautions: “Put your car in a garage, place it where there is a lot of light or CCTV cameras. Do whatever you can, tell your neighbors, spread the word as much as possible so that everyone is vigilant ”.
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