DETROIT (AP) 鈥� Thieves are using cloned key fobs to steal Dodge and other high-powered vehicles directly from dealerships and even automakers in Michigan, then selling them for tens of thousands of dollars less than their value, according to authorities and court records.
For one Ohio-based theft ring, it all came crashing down after a January holdup of a U.S. postal worker led authorities to connect several men to brazen car thefts in the Detroit area, long home to the country鈥檚 biggest automakers, including Dodge, which is now owned by international conglomerate Stellantis.
Investigators then discovered that new Chargers, Challengers, Durangos and Ram pickups worth $50,000 to $100,000 were turning up in Ohio, Indianapolis and East Coast shipping ports after being sold on the street for $3,500 to $15,000, according to a criminal complaint.
Thieves in the Detroit area are primarily going after Dodge vehicles with Hellcat engines, including Chargers and Challengers 鈥� 鈥渢he fast ones,鈥� Sgt. Jerry Hanna with the Macomb Auto Theft Squad said.
鈥淚f a patrol car gets them, they are not stopping and they鈥檙e faster than patrol cars. They鈥檙e 150 mph all day,鈥� he said.
Instead of stealing them off the street, they're driving them straight off dealership and assembly plant lots.
Just this year, about a half-dozen vehicles 鈥� primarily Dodge Ram TRX pickups 鈥� were taken from a lot outside an assembly plant in Macomb County.
After security measures were stepped up at some lots with Dodge vehicles, were swiped from a plant lot in June in suburban Dearborn. More than a dozen Ford Mustangs were stolen in early September from the automaker鈥檚 assembly plant in Flat Rock, southeast of Detroit.
Thieves have targeted Dodges by using handheld electronic 鈥減ro pads鈥� 鈥� a locksmith's tool that can clone keys by plugging into interior ports in the vehicles, according to the federal complaint in the Ohio case.
Authorities weren鈥檛 looking for stolen vehicles when they stopped Devin Rice on Jan. 31 after a postal worker in Shaker Heights, outside Cleveland, was robbed at gunpoint of a mailbox key. But court records show that a search of his car and then his home turned up not just stolen mail, bogus checks, and credit and debit cards, but also a Ram pickup, a Range Rover SUV and a Dodge with a Hellcat engine 鈥� all stolen.
Rice and others were indicted in federal court in Ohio in June. Jaylen Harris, Lavelle Jones and Hakim Benjamin are charged with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen vehicles. Rice, Harris and Jones also are charged with mail theft. Their trials are scheduled next year.
Harris鈥� attorney declined comment. The AP left email and phone messages seeking comment from attorneys for Benjamin, Rice and Jones.
Harris told the FBI that he and Jones had been in contact through Instagram with people in the Detroit area to get stolen vehicles, according to the complaint. Harris said those thieves "were also selling to buyers in other areas, including Chicago and Indianapolis,鈥� the complaint said.
Videos posted on social media show how the high-horsepower vehicles outpaced and evaded police.
A judge stated in a detention order that 鈥淏enjamin drove a 2022 Dodge Challenger valued at $95,000 at 120 mph down Ohio鈥檚 State Route 2 on a Sunday evening in February.鈥�
鈥淪pike strips were eventually needed to remind Benjamin that the law required him to comply with police orders鈥� the judge wrote.
About two years ago, police in Ohio鈥檚 Ottawa County began noticing the vehicles blasting along state Route 2. The sheriff鈥檚 office got calls about reckless driving, Capt. Aaron Leist said.
鈥淭hese cars are going 140-150 mph. All have the Hellcat engines. We had a lot of pursuits. We did not catch them all,鈥� he said.
Investigators learned the vehicles mostly were being stolen in the Detroit area and taken to Cleveland. Some also were destined for Memphis, Tennessee, Leist said.
鈥淲e started working with (Stellantis) in early 2022,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey would call us and tell us `We have these cars missing.鈥欌��
A spokeswoman for Stellantis declined to comment.
Added security measures at some lots have included concrete barriers, according to law enforcement.
Then last fall, a dealership's showroom northwest of Detroit was broken into. Someone drove a Ram pickup through the building's glass wall and "all the other cars followed suit,鈥� said Jeff Schneider, general manager at Szott Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Highland Township.
鈥淚 think they were able to find some keys in a desk drawer and used them,鈥� he added.
Police tracked one of the stolen cars, a Durango Hellcat SRT valued at about $100,000, to a suburb northwest of Detroit. The driver had crashed into a brick wall while fleeing. A 2021 Dodge Durango GT, 2021 Dodge Ram TRX and a 2017 Dodge Charger Hellcat SRT were later recovered.
Authorities arrested four people. They were not believed to have stolen the vehicles, but to have paid $5,000 for one.
鈥淚n the Detroit area they are selling them for like $3,500,鈥� Hanna said. 鈥淥nce they get that money in their pockets they go out and steal another one.鈥�
For dealerships and their insurance companies, the cost is high. Even recovered vehicles can鈥檛 be sold for what they were once worth.
Schneider said his dealership came up with an 鈥渙ld school鈥� solution: parking boots.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a deterrent that works amazingly,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e put boots on all the Hellcats.鈥�
Corey Williams, The Associated Press
