A report from WKRN out of Tennessee highlights a problem we’ve known about for some time: criminals are stealing muscle cars to use in the commission of other crimes. It isn’t too difficult to figure out why this must be. After all, a high-powered muscle car is the perfect getaway vehicle when stacked up against almost any police vehicle.
The cops simply can’t keep up with these performance machines. That means if they try cornering these criminals, it likely will end with them seeing the muscle car’s taillights disappear on the horizon. Apparently, Middle Tennessee was slow to get on this trend, which really started in 2019.
According to WKRN, police in the Nashville metro area say 85 Dodge Challengers and Chargers have been stolen so far in 2023. If they think that’s bad, they should check out Detroit, Chicago, or Houston. However, for all of 2022 only 148 Dodge muscle cars were stolen in the area. In other words, the trend is heading up, way up.
Car thefts are skyrocketing all over the country, and in Canada, after people last year thought or at least hoped it couldn’t get any worse. While Kias and Hyundais have been popular theft targets since they’re so easy to steal, they don’t hold a candle to a Dodge muscle car when the cops are on your tail.
Another benefit of using a stolen car to commit other crimes is if surveillance video, a witness, or even the police see your license plate number while you’re breaking into other vehicles, robbing a business, etc. that tag can’t be traced back to you. It’s a trick criminals have been using for years. The only difference right now is the sheer volume of theft is unlike anything we’ve seen in some time, or maybe ever.