Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Stolen Model S crashes after police pursuit. 7/4/14

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Hard to tell, but I think that is just one of the poles. It goes up where it's mounted, then extends out over the intersection where the lights hang (notice how thin the part in the street is compared to the other part). It looks like the other pole is next to the rear of the Tesla in the building.

tesla-crash.jpg
 
All the discussion is interesting but all speculation. Hopefully we will get more info in days to come from TM, the LAPD or local news. There is probably (speculation) video cameras on local businesses/other sites near the accident Until then we don't know how or if they got the fob and the exact sequence of events at the time of the accident. One pole, two poles, one thief trapped in the car seat belted, the other thru the windshield landing on the pavement or somehow near the rear of the car???

Just hope everyone is OK, especially the innocents in the other vehicle.
 
Even something where they force the car to a max 55 mph would work. Even if someone abused the system and tricked Tesla and the police into activating this the car would still be useable. Of course you can still do a lot of damage at 55mph but better than 110mph.
 
More to the point - how did they steal the car in the first place? Did they break in and steal a fob? Did they spoof the fob somehow? Is there something Tesla can do to prevent this sort of thing?

Tesla store had reported someone in store tampering with cars. So most likely he simply stole a FOB and found the car that matched. Same thig could happen at any car makers service centers if someone breaks in.
Only thing they could do would be locking up key FOBS at night.
 
I am not calling the guy that was behind the wheel the driver or a suspect. He's a theft. This was a bad wreck. Its not an accident. It was an "on purpose", because the theft is an irresponsible, reckless manic at the very least and had no respect or regard for those he might injure. I am sorry for the folks in the Honda and Toyota. For that matter, I am sorry for anyone across the country that is injured.

I suspect that I am alone with this next statement. I am glad the theft is alive and I hope he lives a very long time - and suffers devastating permanent injuries in prison.
 
Are you kidding? A thief drives a Tesla over 100 MPH down a city street, launches into a light pole which then splits the car in half. Front half ends up on fire in the road, rear half is wedged between two walls on the side of a building. And the driver lived. How does that NOT support the view of Teslas being incredibly safe cars? You'd have to try really hard not to see it this way.

AmpedRealtor

I have 40,000 plus miles on my Model S and believe it to be extremely safe. Possibly the safest sedan on the road. However when a car splits in half that doesn't usually support the view of a car being incredibly safe. Does it?

And don't forget all the questions that will surface regarding the dozens of battery cells exploding into the air.

Just doing my part to keep it real.
 
Are we certain the hole in the windshield is from the driver? If the driver ended up with the rear half of the car is it possible that the force of the car spinning or one of the impacts before it was split in half could have thrown the driver into the rear half of the car and he was in that rear half when it went into the building? That would explain how he got there and might also be the reason he survived since the rear structure could have provided some impact protection.
 
Tesla store had reported someone in store tampering with cars. So most likely he simply stole a FOB and found the car that matched. Same thig could happen at any car makers service centers if someone breaks in.
Only thing they could do would be locking up key FOBS at night.

I'm curious as to what alerted Tesla that the car was being "tampered with".

If the thief merely broke into the service center, found the key fob and took the car, how would this be any different from the normal behavior of the owner? Was the vehicle flagged as being under repair, so any activity outside of store hours alerted Tesla?
 
I'm curious as to what alerted Tesla that the car was being "tampered with".

If the thief merely broke into the service center, found the key fob and took the car, how would this be any different from the normal behavior of the owner? Was the vehicle flagged as being under repair, so any activity outside of store hours alerted Tesla?

Initial police reports said they were alerted by someone at the service center of someone tampering with cars. So based on that, I would, guess an alarm went off when he broke in and than he found a FOB.
Don't you think tesla has security alarms cameras, etc... At each store and service center? I would think it is highly likely just as any business would.
 
W H Y ?

Why chasing a car who has Built-In realtime GPS monitoring (like Tesla, or other OnStar type of service)?

So what? It is easy to locate the car, and it is easy to disable the car after the car have been stopped, so the driver cannot re-start the car.

I remember this OnStar advertisement where a driver left his/her car keys inside a car, and call OnStar to open the door.

Any way, in the case of the Tesla, after about 200 miles the car would have ran out of juice.

It would be then impossible to recharge the car if declared as stolen? right?

About the store where the car was stolen, I am sure that there was some kind of video surveillance to identify the robber.

Even though if the robber was wearing a mask, there is no reason to risk innocent lives?

So WHY chasing a stolen car?

Maybe you are correct about all these "features". Maybe not. Why don't you test them.

But in the mean time, easy is a relative term. How do you easily disable the car so the theft can't drive off again?

What prevents it being recharged if it was stolen?

Does LAPD explain why the were giving chase?

I am not trying to be nasty. I am just asking how you know the car works this way?

Drive away leaving your fob on the garage workbench then swap seats with your passenger. I know what happens. Long walk home. Learned that one the hard way. That was an earlier version of the softwre.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm curious as to what alerted Tesla that the car was being "tampered with".

If the thief merely broke into the service center, found the key fob and took the car, how would this be any different from the normal behavior of the owner? Was the vehicle flagged as being under repair, so any activity outside of store hours alerted Tesla?

Our SC has a security system with cameras. Someone told me it alerts someone on the staff when triggered. The information that was reported to the police was that "someone was inside and messing around the cars". That hints that a member of the staff could see the intruder. That's the way I understand it.
 
Not reasonably attempting to apprehend the thieves, ie not chasing them, has the result of perpetuating their action. Do we not attempt to arrest bank robbers? Of course we do! Letting them go and not chase/arrest them leaves them on the street and puts everyone at risk from this action ocurring again. JMO