Car Thieves' Brand Of Choice: Dodge vehicles

Car thefts are a given in Atlanta.

And among thieves, the preferred vehicles are Dodge brand autos and trucks.

“Dodge products are the vehicles of choice for these guys with the ignition switch,” Atlanta Police Lt. LeAnne Browning said Tuesday night at a meeting of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association.

“Especially in models that are in the late 90s to 2005 that are easy, easy prey.

Grant Park isn’t the only East Atlanta Patch neighborhood where Dodge vehicles have been targeted. APD representatives have issued similar warnings at different community association meetings in recent weeks.

And Midtown Patch reported recently on a loophole in Georgia law that allows anyone to sell a motor vehicle that’s at least 10 years old to a salvage yard, without proof of ownership.

Browning, who told Grant Park residents that she uses a locking device on the steering column of her 2003 Chrysler Town & Country vehicle, urged them to take more preventative measures to create deterrents.

“Any sort of level of security that I can put on that vehicle to make it more difficult for them, the better,” Browning said.

Dodge, unit of Chrysler Group LLC, has been beefing up its anti-theft features, said Vince Muniga, a spokesman for the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company.

“We have taken steps in the past decade to try and thwart auto thefts,” Muniga said.

“We’re continually working on anti-theft systems in our vehicles.”

For example, the company, like other automakers, offers removable electronic immobilizers on vehicles. Such immobilizers, when removed, prevent vehicles’ engines from starting.

Chrysler also offers vehicle-tracking devices to its customers through its Mopar parts and servicing unit, Muniga said.

"We do an awful lot of things; it's a matter of staying one step ahead," he said.

As for other crime trends in Grant Park Browning said there were 54 reported crimes in the neighborhood in August including:

• An armed carjacking Aug. 19 on Connally Street. The victims were headed back to their vehicle from an Atlabta Braves game.
• 23 auto larcenies
• 4 burglaries

The auto larcenies have been a particular problem in parking lots at 415 Memorial Dr. and 248 Oakland Ave., Browning said.

To tackle the auto larcenies, APD has a foot patrol monitoring those parking lots on the evening watch as an added deterrent, she said.