Thieves are taking Dodge Chargers by pushing them into the street, programming with new keys

By SARA MACHI

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    RED GROVE, Illinois (WBBM) — Car thefts are at their highest level in the U.S. since 2008, and Illinois tops the list.

Now, one man from the south suburbs says he knows what is pushing the numbers higher. He caught thieves on surveillance camera pushing his car from his house.

The man, Jawuan Bishop, told CBS 2’s Sara Machi he’s he is sick of the trend. Meanwhile, a car expert is looking for solutions.

“Sadly enough to say, I kind of already expected that to happen,” Bishop said. “I just didn’t think my day was going to come that day. But it did. And that’s just what happened.”

That was Bishop’s reaction after watching video of thieves stealing his Dodge Charger this week. He said he has heard of this trend and caught it on video – after thieves break a rear window, they are able to essentially put the Dodge in neutral.

One person is then seen running behind the car to push it into the street. Others joined – and then, Bishop says, they used another stolen car to push his down the road – where they tried to program it with a new key.

“It’s ridiculous,” Bishop said. “It’s crazy.”

Steve Lobello, owner of S&A Security Specialists, says he has seen this method before – with Dodges amongst the most often targeted.

“I get a lot of calls and people are like, ‘What do you mean they can push my car away?'” Lobello said.

Lobello showed us how easy it is to program a new key – and he did it himself in about 90 seconds.

Lobello tells clients to use multiple security methods – searching for new devices that aren’t common on the market yet. He says after hundreds of installs, “We haven’t had one person get past the PIN code yet.”

Lobello said he has the videos to prove it. Customers sent him videos showing thieves trying to steal a car unsuccessfully after following his advice.

Bishop got his car back a few blocks from his home – since he had GPS tracking and other security measures.

“At the end of the day, I’m just really grateful that I managed to get my car back,” Bishop said, “because unfortunately, not a lot of other people are fortunate to get their car back.”

But he says this experience is enough to drive him to try something new – looking for something less likely to attract thieves.

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