Camaro Thefts Soar 1,171% In Los Angeles, Police Warn

Los Angeles Police Department is warning owners of Chevy Camaros and those who want to buy one that thieves are targeting the American muscle car big time. According to LAPD, thefts have increased 1,171% so far in 2024.

Police confiscate Camaro ZL1 sold to man by Carvana.

If that sounds dramatic, well it’s perhaps a little misleading. ABC7 points out in its report on the warning that 84 Camaros were stolen from January 1 to late February. During the same time period last year a mere 7 had been stolen. So yeah, that’s apparently a 1,171% increase in thefts because not many were stolen in the first two months of 2023.

Police are blaming the rash of Camaro thefts on the street takeover crowd. They claim the muscle cars are stolen by the little takeover “artists” who then thrash them in their illegal activities, then later sell them to someone else.

That might be shocking for some, but we’ve been warning for a while that a lot of the cars used in street takeovers are stolen. And while Dodges and Infinitis have been popular in the illegal gatherings, Camaros are gaining in popularity. So there you go, Camaro owners, you have the street takeover dorks to thank if your car gets swiped.

But we’ve also seen quite a few Corvettes, Kias, Mustangs, and trucks of different makes at takeovers recently. So while police are warning specifically about Camaros, we’d just say if you live anywhere near where authorities allow this nonsense to go on, you run the risk of your car getting swiped for smoky donut “fun” in an intersection.

If you don’t want that to happen, make your ride less appealing and harder to steal. Add extra security, park inside, put up cameras, and do whatever else you can think of. Also, don’t vote for local officials who think takeovers and car thefts are no big deal. We’ll leave you to decide who that is since it varies from place to place.

Image via Chevrolet

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