The Houston Police Department’s Auto Theft Division released the video on June 22, but the theft itself occurred on April 20. The video doesn’t show the first suspect, who — according to police— raised the Wrangler’s hood and seemingly cut off the vehicle’s audible alarm. A second suspect walks up to the vehicle 10 minutes later, pulls out a laptop, and is soon able to open the vehicle’s door, kill the four-way alarm lights, then start up the Jeep and drive off.
At one point, the suspect briefly uses a flashlight behind the wheel, after which he can be seen using a tablet, with his laptop sitting on the dash.
“They were very professional, kind of made you feel kinda like you’ve been invaded,” the Jeep owner’s father, David Payne, told KHOU 11.
The high-tech theft isn’t a one-off — the same report quotes a Ram owner in another Houston neighborhood who suspects his vehicle’s thieves might have used dealer-sourced technology.
Read Article