A vehicle theft usually happens within minutes, but luckily, in Steve Bergeron’s case, it didn’t. While out one morning, he noticed something suspicious in his vehicle. He could tell someone was inside his Jeep Gladiator. “When I went to open the passenger door I put an object on the seat, I noticed the seat was pushed all the way in,” says Bergeron. “I noticed that the items from my glove box had been removed and were under the seat. That’s when I knew someone was in the vehicle.” Bergeron checked his security camera and saw what he thought was an attempted carjacking at 3am. He recorded the entire event on his YouTube channel. “I was surprised to see two thieves show up, check the VIN number, then open the hood, play with the electrical box, then break in the doors, then get in trying to use the vehicle for an hour and a half.” Bergeron says. Bergeron’s Jeep is popular with thieves. In October, Jeeps were the number one brand of vehicle stolen in Ottawa, followed by Honda, Toyota, Dodge and Ford. To date, 987 vehicles have been stolen in Ottawa, with only 302 recovered. Ottawa Police Intelligence Sergeant Kathryn Brown says supply chain issues have made vehicles a more valuable target over the years and thieves know how to steal them. “So the reason why cars are stolen and increasing, every year it’s increasing, is because they’re extremely lucrative,” Brown says. “Typically, they’ll manually bypass the door. They’ll break into the car door, then access the ECM port and program a new key.” A recommended deterrent is an ODB port lock. A small device that prevents criminals from accessing the data port. “They need to access that port to program a new key,” Brown says. “If they rip the door lock, they destroy the teeth inside. That’s about a $150 repair, but it won’t let them connect their Bluetooth device to program the key.” Bergeron isn’t sure why, in his case, the thieves failed, but since it happened, he’s added extra security just in case, including a new high-resolution camera to distinguish faces and license plates. Placing a tracking device, such as an Apple AirTag, somewhere in your car is also recommended, but experts say two or three are better since thieves know to look for them. “Well, if they come back, the police will be waiting for them because there are enough deterrents to detain them,” Bergeron says. “And there are several systems with the neighbors and myself that will be called and hopefully they will be caught.”
