A California couple is lucky they didn’t lose more than their C7 Corvette.
Doug and Linda Smith of San Jose are shaken but unharmed after three thieves threatened to shoot them before stealing their 2016 Z51 3LT Corvette from the driveway of their Cambrian-area home early Tuesday morning.
The Smiths became aware of the thieves thanks to their garage-mounted security camera that picked up motion in the driveway as three men cased their car around 1 a.m.
“First thing I did was I walked out. I said, ‘I’m going to call police,'” Doug said. “And the guy said, ‘I got a gun.’ So I came back inside and called 911.”
Moments later, Linda—unaware of the threat—stepped outside to see what was happening.
“I yelled, ‘Get away from my blank car!'” she said. “And in a deep voice a guy said, ‘I’ll shoot you,’ which made me come back inside and lock the door.”
Police were on the scene four minutes after getting the 911 call, but the thieves had already taken off with the Corvette.
“Just had it fully painted,” Doug said, still shaken. “It’s got new wheels. It looks brand new. It was my baby.”
The Smiths believe the thieves used a key fob cloning device to unlock and start the car—a method security experts say is becoming increasingly common.
“If you keep your remote close enough to the front door, they can literally clone your key, start it electronically, and they can drive away with your car,” security analyst Michael Leininger said. “This is happening more and more frequently.”
Leininger suggests placing key fobs in a back bedroom or inside a signal-blocking container, which can be purchased online, to reduce the risk of cloning. San Jose police are investigating the theft.
Source:
nbcbayarea.com
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It would be painful to shoot my own car ,,, but it would be painful looking in the mirror if I didn’t………
I don’t have any sympathy for these two bozos. They’ve already had their Corvette stolen once before out of their driveway and they have a garage to park it in. Why the hell didn’t they learn their lesson from the first time and always leave their car locked up in the garage at night?
Faraday Box. Garage. Big Gun. Don’t live in CA.
It’s a shame for the community that these clowns didn’t try this in Texas or South Carolina…
This is comical! If you want the thieves caught, quietly call 911 while the theft is in process. Stepping out to “scare” them away is more for annoying cats walking on your car.
Or, open fire on them (but given it’s CA, you’ll probably be the one to go to jail)!
Or, put the car in the garage!!
I agree with Butch. I also think that if you’re going to live in a degenerate area/state, and plan to park it outside, you should 100% have a kill-switch of some type on your car. Throttle controller or whatnot.
Obviously doesn’t believe in garages or guns. If he had used either one, he’d still have his car. Yeah. I know and maybe got shot………….and maybe not.
No sympathy for this clueless couple. First mistake, going outside to confront the perps. Idiot. Then the wife goes out to see what’s going on. Idiot. He has a garage and doesn’t keep it in it but he lives in CA. Idiot. Owns a Corvette and doesn’t research his car to know that unless he takes measures, like parking in a garage or putting his fob in a Faraday box or getting a ignition kill switch the car can be stolen.
Welcome to the new USA, especially Newsome’s commifornia.
Why announce “I’m going to call the police?”. Wasted minutes.
The reporter says the camera recorded them there for 10 minutes and the cops were there in 4, so they waited over 7 minutes before calling 911, DUH! bye bye Corvette.
We are all very grateful that neither one of the Smiths were injured? Great opportunity, for the Smiths to procure the insurance settlement and up-date their Corvette garage with a new fresh C8 Corvette. Thanks, Ray
Car theft…California…no problem, just like shoplifting. I recall a guy bragging that he got caught something like 11 times for car theft in 2 weeks and was given a citation each time. It was like a joke to him. It was a news article somewhere maybe a little over a year ago. Before Gascon got dumped who was appointed by Newsom to make sure laws were not enforced to keep people out of jail that he would not fund and was closing now 5 prisons.
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