Eastside police give away steering wheel locks to prevent car thefts [Updated]

Officers at the Hollenbeck Community Police Station gave away security steering wheel locks to residents Wednesday to help educate them about protecting their cars from thieves.

Police said the most targeted vehicles for stealing and breaking into in Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights and El Sereno tend to be 1990s models of the Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Acura Integra.

The cars are targeted for their parts and used by thieves as transportation, police said.

Authorities planned to hand out about 300 free “clubs” Wednesday to Hollenbeck residents who are registered owners of the targeted models.

[Corrected, 2:42 p.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that this event occurred in East L.A., an unincorporated area of L.A. County. It was at the Hollenbeck station on the city of Los Angeles' Eastside.]

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-- Ching-Ching Ni

Map: Recent crime reports in Boyle Heights. Source: Crime L.A.

Comments

[blank]

It will not stop us. It will just take us an extra 15 sec to cut through that lock.

[kgoddess]

FREE??? Not for the taxpayers.

[LilySweet]

Please tell me that taxpayers aren't really paying to protect other people's cars. Some of these people probably aren't even citizens. Will this madness never end?

[Vic Vargaz]

No lock will stop them - they cut through the STEERING WHEEL and the lock, no matter how tough, well-designed, unbreakable - falls right off! A cut-off switch is much better - the only way they can steal it then is with a tow truck.

[JT]

Great idea, giving each of those residents a heavy steel club. Some might even use them for their cars.

[Erwin]

How about some locks for my area of Venice for those of us who drive the targeted cars? Sure they can be defeated with a spray of freon or other material which freezes the bar which can then be shattered with a hammer - but it's at least a deterrent for the casual car thief.

[fricnfrac]

guess they missed all those true crime shows that show how easy it is to break those sticks or even faster: saw thru the steering wheel.

how stupid. what a freekin waste of tax payer dollars -- lapd in east LA what a joke.