According to AreaVibes, a site that ranks communities on a “livability” score, Warren, MI gets an “F” for its crime rate.
In fact, if you’re in Warren, you’re almost twice as likely to have your car stolen than in other Michigan communities. If you zip a few miles South down to Detroit, your car is 5.5 times more likely to find itself in the hands of a thief.
And unfortunately, it appears that automakers themselves are not exempt from this threat, as two Fiat-Chrysler plants – one in Warren and one is Detroit – have fallen victim to heists of vehicles from their factory compounds. Because why steal used cars when you can get brand new ones?
The Detroit Free Press said Wednesday that four vehicles were stolen from a secure lot at the Detroit Jefferson North facility. Police say perps smashed a fence with another vehicle and made off with a Jeep Cherokee and three Dodge Challengers. This is the second time this specific plant has been hit with a similar robbery, though the company won’t comment on the details of a theft they reported in July, where an undisclosed number of vehicles were stolen in a similar manner.
This latest Jefferson North heist also comes on the heels of a significant incident at the Fiat-Chrysler Warren plant in May, when eight brand-new RAM 1500 trucks were stolen after thieves rammed the factory gates. Two were later recovered, one out of gas and the other abandoned, but that still left Fiat-Chrysler out of pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost goods.
At the time, the police said they were investigating the crime as a possible “inside job,” where they speculated there were current or former employees involved in the careful planning. Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer told the Detroit Free Press at the time the thieves “knew where they were going” and “what they were looking for.”
As for this most recent theft in Detroit, Fiat Chrysler says the shipping yard is managed by a third party, and that they are working with the police, but won’t comment further on the details.