In the news - Owners follow stolen Model 3 with their other Tesla

[SMAlset]

Electrek ran this story that I just finished. Didn't see it posted here already (tried a few threads).

Tesla owners 'chase' stolen Model 3 by tracking it with app, police reprimands them - Electrek

So the guy (owner) from listening to the police vest camera I think said he left his wallet in the car. The article said the car was unlocked. Made me wonder if he had left his key card in the wallet in the Model 3...and not even sure why he would leave his wallet inside to begin with. Won't the key card left in the vehicle keep the car unlocked?

Sounds like maybe both their Model X and Model 3 sustained some damage. Kind of dumb move on his part trying to block the guy in.

So was thinking if maybe a smart thing to have done since most likely their cars are linked together in the phone app, would have been to honk the car's horn while the guy was stealing it and driving. Would catch attention and probably freak the guy out at the same time. Also if they had Sentry turned on (and hopefully TeslaCam was on too) and he had a flashdrive in the Model 3 or even the Model X, check the video from the car/cars to get footage of the thief to give to the police. None of this was mentioned in the article and in the comments that I scanned after reading on Electrek's site. How effective do you think the horn would be in wanting the guy to stop driving the car and fleeing the vehicle?

I have to agree with the police and numerous commentors to the article that following, catching up to and confronting the thief, especially with your kids in the car, was a really dumb and potentially dangerous move.

 

[Tam]

...I have to agree with the police and numerous commentors to the article that following, catching up to and confronting the thief, especially with your kids in the car, was a really dumb and potentially dangerous move.

I also agree.

It's fine that they want to follow the thief in a correct way. They need to do it stealthily like a block or 2 away or even in a different street so the thief would not know that the car is being tracked.

They were able to call 911, then let the professionals do their job.

The fact that they even get into a collision with a thief means they were too close to the thief. Back off!

Confronting the thief should be left to the professionals.

Some thieves can be heavily armed and confronting them could be a very bad idea!

In this modern-day, they did not even use the camera from their cell phone to take a picture of the thief!

The driver then disobeyed the police command and contaminated the crime scene before fingerprints could be lifted off the car.

So irresponsible and unprofessional!

 

[KenC]

Reminds me of those stories of people tracking their stolen iPhones back when iPhones were newish, like the late aughts. Always seemed a bit dangerous to confront a thief.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

For this stunt the owner gets a stiff lecture from the police, and 6 months of driving an ICE.

I hope it was worth it.

 

[Big Dog]

ok, I'll bite. Is the tracking something that our Tesla's do, or does the couple have a separate app of some kind? If the former, where do I find it?

 

[focher]

ok, I'll bite. Is the tracking something that our Tesla's do, or does the couple have a separate app of some kind? If the former, where do I find it?

Open the Tesla app on your phone. Switch to your car (if you have more than one) and there is a Location section. That will update as the car moves.

 

[Big Dog]

^^slick, thanks.

 

[Joe F]

ok, I'll bite. Is the tracking something that our Tesla's do, or does the couple have a separate app of some kind? If the former, where do I find it?

Tesla app -> location -> map

Too late.

 

[Tam]

ok, I'll bite. Is the tracking something that our Tesla's do, or does the couple have a separate app of some kind? If the former, where do I find it?

You can find it at:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teslamotors.tesla

On your phone, it's near the bottom called "Location".

You would see this below and if the car is in gear, you can see the numerical miles per hour in real-time too.

 

[MP3Mike]

For this stunt the owner gets a stiff lecture from the police, and 6 months of driving an ICE.

I hope it was worth it.

You mean 6 months of driving 2 ICEs. (Though maybe the damage isn't that bad.)

And probably higher insurance rates going forward as well.

 

[SMAlset]

So what about honking the car's horn while it's being driven away??? I know the Tesla service departments got annoyed by people doing that on their app while their car was in for service. How freaked out would a thief be if the car suddenly started honking a lot and attracting attention?