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Hillsborough Deputies Show Off Car That Traps Auto Thieves

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

A Hillsborough County sheriff's sergeant drove a demonstration bait vehicle, a Suzuki Grand Vitara.

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By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 9, 2008

Hillsborough County car thieves could run into a snag: a state-of-the-art bait car designed to foil them.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office received the vehicle today, and it soon should be on the streets.

The vehicle gives deputies the ability to listen in on thieves, lock doors, cut the engine, flash lights and honk the horn. It also will have a dash camera that gives deputies a way to have live-streaming video and catch thieves in action.

Deputies won't reveal the make of the bait car donated by Allstate. An Allstate spokesperson said it is a vehicle popular with thieves.

The sheriff's office has had other bait vehicles but nothing this technologically advanced, Maj. Harold Winsett said. The anti-theft technology alone is valued at $16,000.

Deputies showed off the technology today during a news conference. A sergeant drove a demonstration bait vehicle, a Suzuki Grand Vitara. A projector at the event allowed the media to watch the sergeant – thanks to a dashboard camera – demonstrate how investigators can incapacitate the vehicle when stolen.

The technology works, said Ron Poindexter, director of Area 5 Operations for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Poindexter said two bait cars in the Fort Myers area yield about 15 arrests a month.

Allstate is donating 14 bait cars nationally. Auto theft costs Americans $7.6 billion each year, and auto theft and fraud increases premiums about $200 to $300 a year, according to Allstate.

The Tampa-St. Petersburg area was 91st nationally for car theft in 2007, with 10,500 vehicles reported stolen, deputies say.

A car is stolen every 26 seconds in the United States, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

HOT VEHICLES

Florida's 10 most stolen vehicles are:

1. 1994 Honda Accord

2. 2000 Honda Civic

3. 1991 Toyota Camry

4. 2006 Ford F150

5. 1998 Dodge Caravan

6. 2005 Dodge Ram

7. 2007 Toyota Corolla

8. 1996 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee

9. 2002 Ford Explorer

10. 1993 Chevrolet Full Size 1500 pickup

Source: National Insurance Crime Bureau

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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