Motorist tracks, finds car stolen amid wave of thefts targeting Lexuses, Toyotas
Since April, about 100 Toyota and Lexus vehicles have been stolen from Ottawa streets by organized criminals.
Few stories can rival the experience of Steven Spooner,
49, who used his own smarts and the vehicle’s built-in tracking technology to solve the theft himself. Oh, what a feeling, all right — to do what two police forces couldn’t get around to.
Spooner’s brand new Lexus RX 350 — a 2020 model he’d only had for three weeks — was stolen from his driveway in the south end of the city on Oct. 17, at 2:57 a.m. (The vehicle records virtually everything, including time of movement.)
When he woke up that morning, the app on his cellphone told him his SUV was in Montreal and it provided an exact location. He quickly called the police, his insurance company and the special number provided in the highly touted “Safety Connect” package.
What followed was a comedy of errors. The vehicle sat parked in Montreal for four hours while Spooner made a series of phone calls during which there was confusion with Lexus operators about the responsible police force, the correct police report number and — most troublesome — whether he was in Ottawa, Ont., or Ottawa, Ohio, he says.
Hours went by.
He then received an electronic alert that his car was on the move. At 6:05 p.m., Spooner writes, the $70,000 vehicle came to rest at an address in Barrhaven, only 15 minutes from his home. Off he went, locating the unplated SUV in an open garage, with a running vehicle behind it, the occupants of which soon took off.
Spooner said he dialed 911 and Ottawa police arrived to intervene. The vehicle was eventually seized via a warrant, inspected for evidence and is now undergoing a repair to the door handle and interior.
This kind of scenario is not news to Ottawa police Sgt. Catherine Brown of the organized crime and auto theft unit.
She explained that various Toyota and Lexus models are in high demand in certain parts of Africa and the Middle East and criminal rings will target cities or neighbourhoods in waves, attempting to ship the vehicles in containers overseas, send them to so-called “chop shops” for parts, or “re-VIN” them for sale in other provinces.
“I’d say it’s a big problem,” she said Thursday, pointing to the 100 vehicles hit in seven months, 30 of which have been recovered.
She said the trend began in 2013 and comes and goes in spurts, even hitting Eastern Ontario car dealerships, like an Ottawa one that lost six cars at once in June and the Petawawa outlet that lost seven in one swoop in September. (One of the Ottawa Valley vehicles was found in Burnaby, B.C.) Some weekends, four or six vehicles will be lifted, then things will be quiet for another few weeks, she said.
“It’s a recurring thing, but since 2013, we’ve successfully prosecuted every group that has hit here,” Brown said. “We have a good track record.”
The officer wanted to dispel an idea put to readers last week, that “fob amplification” technology is regularly being used to imitate or clone fobs and trick vehicles into opening and starting. (The internet is alive with such stories.)
These cases are very rare, she said, with maybe only two confirmed cases in Ontario. “It is here, but it’s very rare. We haven’t seen it in Ottawa yet.”
Typically, she said, thieves will enter the vehicle by cracking the driver-side door handle, then reprogram the vehicle via its on-board computer.
Brown was reluctant to provide too many details, for fear of providing a “101” to the ill-intentioned.
The theft-from-auto cases that Postmedia described last week were just that, Brown said, and entry was almost certainly gained from doors left open overnight. And there are a number of Slim Jim-style devices that can unlock a car in seconds, she added.
There are steps motorists can take to protect their vehicles and contents, she said. First, don’t leave valuable things — dash cams, high-end sunglasses, GPS devices, electronics — in plain view.
Try to park high-end vehicles in a garage or box it in with a second car. Consider using aftermarket locking devices or electronic immobilizers. Leave your fob in a protective pouch or away from the front door or window.
Spooner, meanwhile, is angry at the response from the Lexus security centre.
“I’m extremely upset,” he wrote, pointing out his vehicle was driven hundreds of “unnecessary” kilometres because there was no co-ordinated effort to locate and seize the SUV.
To contact Kelly Egan call 613726-5896 or send an email kegan@ postmedia.com.
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