Milwaukee police: 'Criminal enterprise' steals cars to fix and sell
Thieves in Milwaukee are using key programming tools to quickly steal cars, police investigate a 'criminal enterprise' stealing cars to sell them
Thieves in Milwaukee are using key programming tools to quickly steal cars, police investigate a 'criminal enterprise' stealing cars to sell them
Thieves in Milwaukee are using key programming tools to quickly steal cars, police investigate a 'criminal enterprise' stealing cars to sell them
There's a new high-tech way thieves are stealing cars in Milwaukee. They can get away with your car in just seconds using a key programming tool.
Frank Tragesser had his high-end Jeep Trackhawk stolen from an airport hotel while visiting his fiancée in Milwaukee.
Police say the thieves used a key programmer to take off with his car.
"There's a million and one things going through your head when your car gets stolen," said Tragesser. "I've never had that happen before."
Court records obtained by 12 News Investigates claim the same group stole Russell Jackson's Infiniti in early April. Police said a white Infiniti was stolen from a lot on Lovers Lane near Silver Spring and taken to a mechanic's shop near 73rd Street and Florist Avenue.
Police searched the shop, which they claim is a "criminal enterprise" where a mechanic will "repair, re-vin, paint, repair any damage and/or re-key these vehicles."
The mechanic has not been charged, so WISN 12 News is not naming him.
Records show police documented five stolen cars here in April and May, including Washington's Infiniti and Tragesser's Jeep.
A search warrant states police spoke with someone who said stolen vehicles are "...re-vinned, painted and sold and repaired once inside, and this is a regular occurrence and a large part of their business."
The same person told police, according to the search warrant that "clients" will pay the shop to take parts from cars that aren't stolen to replace them on stolen vehicles to "... make them legitimate." A returned search warrant doesn't state what police found at the shop.
The building's owner said the mechanic was evicted once the person leasing the place found out about a stolen vehicle there.
Milwaukee police and the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office declined to comment further.
Police say in both cases, the car owners still had their cars, leading them to believe the vehicles were stolen with a key programmer. The high-tech way to steal cars is taking off across Milwaukee. Milwaukee police say they responded to 19 car thefts from key fob programmers in the first three months of the year. Court records say Nissan is now the second-most stolen vehicle in the city, and the key programmers are to blame.
Media coverage, like this story, is changing how car thieves operate, according to the search warrant.
" ... criminal enterprises have gone to extreme lengths to ensure their vehicles (their product) remain undetectable," it states, adding that police will replace parts that would contain a part number with another part and use new license plates and paint to keep the car from getting detected.
In Milwaukee, police said push-to-start Infiniti and Toyota's seem to be the cars most stolen. Though, Honda, Nissan, Dodge, Chrysler, and Lexus all have no wait time to re-key the vehicle, meaning thieves can start the vehicle right away and take off.