Los Angeles police warned Thursday that suspects are using new tactics and the number of Chevrolet Camaro thefts has jumped 1,285%.

“[K]”These clone devices have been used in many new Camaro thefts,” the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said. statement. “These devices are about the size of a cell phone and are area programming tools that receive signals from nearby key fobs and allow the device to clone.”

The Gang Enforcement Division (GED) of the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Community Police Department said in a statement that the boy was arrested on suspicion of possessing such devices.

“This young man would steal Camaros, take them off the street, and then sell them on social media for $2,000 or $3,000,” Newton said. Keith Green told the Los Angeles Times:. “A 16-year-old could steal a luxury car.''

Police found the suspect and another teen fleeing the abandoned Camaro and arrested them, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Seven Camaros were stolen citywide in 2023, and 90 Camaros have been stolen since the beginning of the year,” the statement said, adding that the rate of increase in thefts is 1,285% across Los Angeles. Ta.

The Newton area itself has seen a 500% increase in Camaro thefts, from two in all of 2023 to 10 from January 2024 to date, the statement said. (Related: Blue City distributes vehicle 'tracking tags' to residents as people continue to have their cars stolen)

Young people caught up in the “doughnut” of illegal street racing, burnouts and street hijackings seem to prefer Chevrolet Camaros, according to searches conducted on the Los Angeles Police Department's newsroom database. One person was killed and six or seven others were injured, at least three seriously, after a Camaro lost control during a mass street occupation late on Christmas Day 2022, the Los Angeles Police Department said. January 2023 Press Release. The suspect fled the scene, and the two vehicles continued to engage in a “doughnut” act after the collision, Los Angeles Police Department said. Said.

Illegal street racing in Los Angeles and other San Fernando Valley cities and neighborhoods “has been a problem dating back to the 1960s, with crowds sometimes exceeding 400 people,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement. Said. “Keeping these drivers and their vehicles off the roads will save lives,” the LAPD added.

Illegal street races put a lot of wear and tear on vehicles, so participants prefer to use stolen vehicles, police told the Los Angeles Times.

In a statement, Los Angeles Police Department detectives advised Camaro owners not to store their key fobs in their cars, but to place them in commercially available security cases or in tin cans or aluminum foil to prevent them from sending signals to key-cloning devices. He advised them to keep it.

Victims of Camaro thefts that may have been facilitated by cloning devices or anyone with useful information can contact the LAPD at the contact information listed in its statement.