We’ve seen it a million times in the movies. A car looking to escape a locked compound blasts through a security gate as if it’s made from balsa wood, which of course it probably is. But a gang of Detroit thieves who tried the same trick in two stolen Dodge Durangos found out the hard way that real security barriers are often much tougher.
So tough, in the case of the barrier blocking the exit of Ground Effects Automotive in Warren, Michigan, that when the thieves tried to smash it out of the way, it was the SUVs that were comprehensively destroyed.
The incident took place at 06.35 on Monday morning when half a dozen thieves entered Ground Effects’ parking lot with plans to steal five high performance Durango SRTs and one regular model, collectively worth around $500k.
Someone had seen the gang standing close to vehicles in the lot and alerted the police, and when the cops turned up they were just in time to see the embarrassing failed exit attempt. We doubt any of the thieves had bothered to buckle up before setting off, so the impact must have been as painful as it was surprising. The suspects then jumped out of the wrecked SUVs and ran off. One got away, but five others were arrested. Of those, one was 24 years old and the remaining four were aged 16 and 17.
Based on what we can see in Fox2‘s video footage, the gate appears to be a StrongArm M30 or M50 made by Washington-based HySecurity. The firm describes the gates as delivering the “ultimate stopping power” and says it can “stop a truck in its tracks.” We believe it.
This is far from the first time we’ve reported on teens trying to jack muscle cars, but one fact about this case that does stand out is that the gang brought its own fuel cans. In a recent case, thieves who had taken 10 new Ford Raptors were caught because automakers put very little fuel in their newly built cars, and the light-fingered crew had to stop at a gas station almost immediately.
