Gone are the days of hotwiring a steering column with a screwdriver. Today’s auto thieves rely on sophisticated tech to steal rides. But when an operation goes south, they still resort to some wildly desperate measures to avoid a jail cell. Case in point: a bizarre, botched heist in New York this weekend that ended with one suspect in handcuffs and another testing his luck in the frigid waters of a Brooklyn creek.
A Late-Night Operation Interrupted
The chaotic moment took place last Friday night outside the Kings Plaza shopping center in Mill Basin. At around 11:50 p.m., a security guard monitoring the Flatbush Avenue parking structure noticed a duo casing parked vehicles. After realizing a they were breaking into a car, the guard immediately contacted the local police.
By the time officers arrived on the scene, the suspects had already broken into a Honda and were actively attempting to do the same with a Jeep close by. The police moved quickly to intercept the crew, successfully detaining a female suspect, identified as 22-year-old Carlyne Hyacinthe.
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- ‘They Can Copy Your Key Fob’: The High-Tech Way Thieves Are Stealing Cars in Minutes
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The High-Tech Tools Left Behind
When the police ties searched Hyacinthe, they didn’t just find standard burglary gear. Alongside a pocket knife, officers recovered a key fob reprogrammer.
These electronic devices have become a massive headache for the automotive industry. Once a thief physically gains entry to a cabin, they can plug a reprogrammer directly into the vehicle’s diagnostic port. Within minutes, the device clones the security data onto a blank fob, allowing the criminal to start the engine and drive away as if they had the factory keys…