CHICAGO – Two armed men lured a locksmith to the South Loop and then robbed him of his car key fob programmer Sunday afternoon. Car theft organizations are increasingly using FOB programmers to steal vehicles in the city.
A 37-year-old locksmith responded to a service call in the 2000 block of South State on Sunday around 3:38 p.m. and encountered two men, Chicago police said. According to a CPD report, the men stated they were locked out of their vehicle and directed him toward a Dodge Durango.
After a brief conversation, one of the men pulled out a gun and demanded the locksmith’s key fob programmer. Both robbers fled on foot, police said.
Car thefts all over the city have fallen by 24% compared to last year’s record level. From June 2022, car thefts increased as thieves known as ‘Kia Boys’ took advantage of a design flaw, allowing them to steal certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles by using a USB plug as a key. From the end of last year, car manufacturers introduced changes to solve the problem. But with millions of cars needing to be updated, the process is slow.
Even with the 24% drop, car thefts this year are still 141% higher than 2020 and 135% higher than 2021.
More and more sophisticated car theft crews are using key fob duplicators to steal vehicles, including high-end makes and models.
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CWBChicago was founded in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had become discouraged by the inaccurate information presented during local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. Our coverage area has since expanded to Lincoln Park, River North, The Loop, Uptown and other North Side areas. But our mission remains unchanged: to provide original public safety reporting with better context and more detail than mainstream media. Our editorial email address is news@cwbchicago.com
