Thieves after expensive airbags break into 18 cars at Detroit auto dealership

Chevy Malibu, Equinox are popular targets

DETROIT – A Metro Detroit auto dealership is one of the most recent victims in a string of thefts.

Thieves have been breaking into cars and stealing parts right off those vehicles, including at Detroit’s James-Martin Chevrolet where 18 cars were broken into.

A woman says her car in Harper Woods got hit this week, her steering wheel stolen. Teams of thieves are smashing windows and pulling out steering columns to get the expensive airbag in the steering wheel.

The airbags are sold when drivers have their cars repaired. Chevy Malibu and Equinox models are the most popular cars the crews are hitting.

Security camera video shows thieves diving into smashed-out windows and taking the steering wheel. It only takes them seconds to finish the job.

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About the Authors:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.