Guy Stops Dodge Charger Thief

We see plenty of stories about carjackings and other car thefts that are either thwarted or someone tries to stop. Sometimes the thieves are caught, sometimes they run off, sometimes they get the car anyway, and sometimes the situation turns deadly. Thankfully in this case out of Knoxville, Tennessee the owner of this Dodge Charger was able to stop the would-be thief.

This is why cops can’t catch Hellcats.

This happened back before Christmas 2023 but it’s an interesting enough story we thought it’s worth highlighting. You can see the surveillance footage of it playing out, at least in part, in the WATE 6 report we’ve included.

In that footage, you see the Charger parked out in front of a business at a strip mall type location. A guy in a hoodie gets out of one car, walks over to the Charger, opens the door, and fires up the engine.

That’s when the Mopar muscle car’s owner comes running out of his business and pulls open the car door just as the guy starts backing out. The two exchange some words and the Dodge’s owner starts pulling the thief out.

We don’t get the uninterrupted footage and it feels like something was edited out, but we can say that’s the case for sure. In the interview, the Charger’s owner says he told the thief he had a gun, so that would explain perhaps why the guy took off in a hurry.

What might be perplexing to some is how the thief got into and started up the Dodge. There are a few possibilities. Sadly, one is that the owner left the keys in the muscle car. Believe it or not, people do that, especially when they’re somewhere they feel comfortable, like where they live or work.

Another possibility is that the keys were close enough to allow for the guy to get in and start the engine. This we seriously doubt, but it’s technically possible.

Finally, there’s the stronger possibility the thief and his accomplice had a signal booster, tricking the car into thinking the keys were right there. This and the previous possibility both would be thwarted by the car owner putting his keys in a Faraday cage/pouch to block the fob’s signal entirely. If you’re not already doing this, these pouches are cheap and easy to keep in your pocket or bag, so there’s really no excuse.

Image via WATE 6/YouTube

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