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Stolen Tesla Leads Police On Wild Pursuit

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NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA) — A suspect behind the wheel of a stolen Tesla led authorities on a bizarre, high-speed pursuit Tuesday night before being captured in Newport Beach.
The pursuit began a little after 10 p.m. when Hawthorne police spotted a Tesla Model S which had been reported stolen.

The pursuit wound its way onto the eastbound 91 Freeway in Carson, then to the southbound 405 Freeway near Fountain Valley, the suspect hitting speeds above 100 miles per hour.

At one point, one of the Hawthorne police vehicles tailing the suspect was involved in a collision.


California Highway Patrol eventually took over the pursuit, which came to abrupt stop in the middle of the southbound State Route 73 Freeway, just south of Bonita Canyon Drive, in Newport Beach.

Following a standoff, in which the suspect got out of the Tesla several times, and appeared to put clothes on the roof of the car, he then started to drive again. At that point, CHP officers used a PIT maneuver to bring the car to a final stop. The driver was taken into custody at about 11:10 p.m.





Model S Stolen
 
  • Informative
Reactions: David29
If your Tesla is stolen - I assume they have a key card or fob but couldn't you just go into your app and limit the speed down to 5mph?
Or frustrate the thief by locking it or honking the horn every 2 seconds?
Heat on in the summer - cold on in the winter?
There are so many controls from the app - along with knowing where it is at all times makes it easy to get back?
 
If your Tesla is stolen - I assume they have a key card or fob but couldn't you just go into your app and limit the speed down to 5mph?
Or frustrate the thief by locking it or honking the horn every 2 seconds?
Heat on in the summer - cold on in the winter?
There are so many controls from the app - along with knowing where it is at all times makes it easy to get back?
Great ideas. Maybe the owner is not aware of the features.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UltradoomY
If your Tesla is stolen - I assume they have a key card or fob but couldn't you just go into your app and limit the speed down to 5mph?
Or frustrate the thief by locking it or honking the horn every 2 seconds?
Heat on in the summer - cold on in the winter?
There are so many controls from the app - along with knowing where it is at all times makes it easy to get back?
Unless they know enough when they get in the car to immediate shutoff remote connectivity, in which case you would be unable to connect to the car via the app for any of the steps you mentioned.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: David29
Why didn't police simply call Tesla and have the car disabled? Answer is probably because no one at Tesla would answer!!:D:oops: In all seriousness, unless a strongarm felony was involved, why in the world are the police chasing a property crime and putting others in danger. Ridiculous! Especially since the car can easily be found at any time simply by using the app.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: GeoG
Why didn't police simply call Tesla and have the car disabled? Answer is probably because no one at Tesla would answer!!:D:oops: In all seriousness, unless a strongarm felony was involved, why in the world are the police chasing a property crime and putting others in danger. Ridiculous! Especially since the car can easily be found at any time simply by using the app.
Sure you can find the car at any time, but you can't always find the criminal at any time. And that's also fairly important.
 
If your Tesla is stolen - I assume they have a key card or fob but couldn't you just go into your app and limit the speed down to 5mph?
The lowest you can set the speed is 50 mph. Also, I don't believe it can be changed while the car is being driven.

That requires your password doesn't it?
Yes, the password has been required for disabling mobile access for some time but that wasn't always the case.
 
Why didn't police simply call Tesla and have the car disabled? Answer is probably because no one at Tesla would answer!!:D:oops: In all seriousness, unless a strongarm felony was involved, why in the world are the police chasing a property crime and putting others in danger. Ridiculous! Especially since the car can easily be found at any time simply by using the app.
Maybe it was a strongarm car jacking and not ridiculous?

Or les pose this question, if there was no fear of getting caught since you know they won’t chase you, what environment does that create?

Slippery slope
 
Why didn't police simply call Tesla and have the car disabled? Answer is probably because no one at Tesla would answer!!:D:oops: In all seriousness, unless a strongarm felony was involved, why in the world are the police chasing a property crime and putting others in danger. Ridiculous! Especially since the car can easily be found at any time simply by using the app.
They might answer in 48-72 hours... Lol
 
I agree that needing password now is one layer of protection for ability to disable remote access. However, that's not a perfect protection and there are still ways to disable it. I fully admit these are more intrusive (pulling the SIM card, disabling the cellular antenna), but it can be done and relatively quickly for a professional thief. May not be the case in this situation, but a professional group that intends to just chop it or transport it out of the country, it can happen.

I need to remind myself that for every talented, innovative engineering designing ways to make something difficult to be stolen there is another equally talented, innovated person out there figure out a way to defeat it.