Shaved keys/Stolen Vehicle/Drug Paraphernalia:
Deputy Rich Rowe from Woodinville Police Department · 3 Feb 17
Shaved keys/Stolen Vehicle/Drug Paraphernalia:
We all know too well, drug addiction can lead to other crimes. In some cases addicts resort to crime in order support the habit. A daily habit/use has a monetary cost to it. Many dealers will take cash, gift cards, and property for payment. Recently this became very apparent as Deputies recovered a stolen Van. The vehicle was stolen in Everett but dumped in Woodinville. The vehicle was recovered with other vehicles plates on it. During the recovery Deputies located stolen property from at least one Commercial Burglary in Lynnwood. The Deputies located a plethora of used needles, burnt spoons and the remnants of suspected Heroin use. The cab of this vehicle was a literal dangerous hazard zone, filled with uncapped needles. Some of these needles still contained residue of the suspected Heroin.
The stolen items, mostly tools were later returned to the owner. Tools are easily pawned, sold and/or traded for drugs as are any electronic devices. There also were many smaller items which appeared to have come from vehicle prowls (Construction trucks) but we were unable to determine if that was the case or not.
Deputies found no damage to the ignition which is true with about 50% (+/- 5 %) of the stolen vehicles recovered nationwide.
Deputies later recovered nearly 150 keys many for multiple brands of vehicles. Most of the vehicle appeared to have been shaved down. Car Thieves commonly shave keys use in car thefts and hoard them. There also were several residential home keys. Residential keys may be used in BUMPING LOCKS. You can look that up on the internet there are multiple videos on that subject.
I have attached photos of the keys found in the vehicle.
Auto theft is certainly among those crimes of opportunity, and one that routinely occurs overnight. Criminals have thought of some pretty ingenious ways to steal cars and make money off of them, but one technique stands above the rest, and is one of the easiest to detect. This technique? The use of shaved keys.
Shaved keys have been around for decades, but remain one of the most popular ways to steal a car. They are the most inexpensive way to go, and can be effective on a wide variety of vehicles.
A shaved key looks just like it sounds, a car key that's been shaved or ground down on either the sides or the face. In the past, most keys were ground on the ridges, making them fit well into a vehicle's ignition. Recently, the trend has been to grind these keys on their faces, leaving the ridges on the sides intact. This has fooled some officers who look at the keys' intact ridges and figure they are legitimate keys. Not quite. This type of key is just as effective for any car thief, and can be used in the same way.
Shaved keys are known by other names as well, such as "master keys" or "jigglers." They work by fitting into the vehicle's ignition and fooling the ignition system into believing it's the original key. Due to the speed of these kinds of thefts, they can appear as innocent as an ordinary citizen getting into his or her car. Some of the keys will also work on a vehicle's doors, making them even harder to detect. The same key can be used on hundreds of cars before wearing out; making them prized possessions for auto thieves. Thus the reason we find auto thieves in possession of 50-200 keys at any one time. Shaved keys can be made easily with the aid of any metal grinder or handheld file. In fact, many criminals will simply grind the key down on the edge of a sidewalk or rock. This method is just as effective-providing they can get the key thin enough to "jiggle" into the car's ignition.
Certain types of vehicles fall prey to the use of shaved keys more often than others. For example, Toyota, Honda and Saturn vehicles between the model years of 1980 and 2000 are the most common ones taken using shaved keys. These earlier model cars and trucks used very similar ignition systems, making them easily defeated with the use of a shaved key. However, because of the different key lengths used by the manufacturers, most shaved keys will still be used to steal the same brand of vehicle they came from. For example, a Toyota key will be ground down and used to steal any Toyota vehicle.
Shaved keys are Burglar Tools, plain and simple.
One of the best ways to deter auto theft is by using a steering wheel locking device. Potential Auto Thieves will simply bypass the vehicle with a visible steering wheel locking device and go after another. Most Auto thieves will not put the work or effort into attempting to remove one.
Pleas continue to report suspicious activity. “If you see something say something”.
3 Feb 17 · Subscribers of Woodinville Police Department in Safety
