Houston thieves coming for your wheels; how to stay a step ahead of the rim bandits
HOUSTON - It's Houston. Thieves are cunning, creative and brazen.
They were at it early Monday. 6:30 a.m. to be exact, at an apartment complex in East Houston near Broadway and Belfort.
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You'd think the morning traffic would detur the four from completely rimming a car in the daylight. But, they strategically parked a Uhaul directly behind a Toyota, blocking the car from the street's view.
Then, they proceeded jack up the car, remove all four wheels, and haul off. It took them all of about 15 minutes.
The victim came out to her car on bricks, with no wheels.
"I was in disbelief," she said.
She didn't want to be identified. Whoever these thieves are, they've caused her enough trouble.
"Missing a day of work, my son missing school, coming up with the deductible to get it repaired, just stress," she said.
When we're talking about wheels, the best thing you can do to keep them on your car when thieves are rolling around, is to put wheel locks on them.
They look and function like normal lug nuts, but are cut differently, so they can't be removed with a standard tool, only a special key.
"$25 dollars with free installation," said Alex with Rim Pros. "If you can buy a Big Mac, you can buy something like this," he said.
He says he hears about this kind of wheel theft all the time, and taking a simple precaution can prevent it.
"This is just a prevention, it's not full proof - if they really want your rims - they'll take the whole vehicle. For that, you want a security system," he said.