Locksmith Hired to Steal Car, Later Charged as Accomplice 竊賊自稱車主遺失鑰匙 誆鎖匠開鎖成共犯

A locksmith became an accomplice after he received NT$10,000 from a thief to unlock a luxury car. The police formed a special task force and retrieved the car in 6 hours.

Two men are standing by a car. After a few minutes, the lights turn on and the man wearing jeans gets into the driver's seat and drives away. The other man leaves on foot. Around noon, the real car owner comes out to find his car missing. He calls the police.

Cheng Wei-hao, Chief Detective, Sanchong Precinct:” Auto theft rings scope out cars parked on the road and install GPS trackers on cars they target. They then see where these cars are regularly parked during the day to figure out how much time they have to steal the car. “

On Aug. 5, a man surnamed Chiu called a Sanchong locksmith saying he'd lost his car key and was willing to pay NT$10,000 to unlock his car. The locksmith did not ask for proof of ownership and unlocked the car in just three minutes. Chiu then drove into the mountains and changed the license plate on the car.

Cheng Wei-hao, Chief Detective, Sanchong Precinct:” (Auto theft rings) collect license plates and registration by buying scrapped cars or vehicles totaled in accidents.” 

Police say they formed a special task force because stolen cars usually change hands very quickly. The thief was arrested within six hours and the car's original license plate was found inside the car. The locksmith has been charged as an accessory

兩名男子，一大早在車庫前徘徊，沒多久，車燈亮起，穿著牛仔褲的男子，走到駕駛座旁，準備開車離去；另一人則從車庫離開，不知情的人，還以爲他們開的是自家車，直到中午，車主上班發現愛車不見，才趕緊報案。

新北市警局三重分局偵查隊長鄭偉豪：「竊車集團會先在大路邊去尋找這些目標物，然後會在這些車子上面裝GPS，他再去分析說你停留到上班這段期間，有多少空檔，在這個空檔期間來作竊取。」

事發在新北三重、這個月5號，邱姓竊賊找來鎖匠，聲稱弄丟晶片車鑰匙、急著用車，願意支付1萬多元開鎖費，鎖匠沒有查驗證件、行照，不疑有他當場配鎖，開鎖過程甚至不到3分鐘，竊賊得手後，開到山區、更換車牌，企圖製造斷點，躲避追查。

新北市警局三重分局偵查隊長鄭偉豪：「（竊車集團）尋找事故或報廢的車輛，去收購他的車籍，但他其實不是要買車，是要買他的車牌跟行照，再選定相同車款車去竊取。」

警方研判，車輛很快會被轉手變賣，立即成立專案小組，以車追人，6小時內抓到竊賊，車內更找到原車牌，人贓俱獲，詢問候，嫌犯依竊盜罪函送、鎖匠也成了共犯，而警方將持續追查背後得竊車集團。