Perhaps the life of Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputy Bradley Reckling could have been spared if new laws passed this year had been in place three years earlier.
Reckling, a Romeo native, was shot and killed last June while investigating an SUV on the east side of Detroit in which the thief or thieves used the AutoProPad device to steal it.
“It hit home,” said Troy police officer Joe Morgan, a member of the multi-jurisdictional Special Investigations Unit in Oakland County in reference to the death of Reckling, who was a member of the unit.
Marquis Lamar Goins of Detroit, and Karim Blake Moore and Raymone Raylee Debose, both of Clinton Township, have been charged with murder in Wayne County.
New laws that took effect last month make it a crime to possess or use the AutoProPad device for the illegitimate purpose of stealing vehicles that deploy the push-button start system. The laws make it a 5-year felony to possess such a device and a 10-year felony to use the device to steal a vehicle.
Similar bills were defeated three years ago in the state Senate by a single vote after Morgan worked with Republican state Sen. Jim Runestad in introducing the bills.
Morgan revived his efforts last year, and the result was Democratic state reps. Denise Mentzer of Mount Clemens Democrat and Alabas Farhat of Dearborn introducing the bills and helping to get them passed.
They were signed into law in July by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The devices are used legitimately by locksmiths, mechanics and car dealerships to unlock and start vehicles for owners who lose their key fob.
But they have contributed greatly to a substantial increase in auto thefts in Michigan, going from about 21,000 in 2021 to over 25,000 in 2022, according to Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham.
“An estimation is 85 to 90% of those vehicles stolen, if they were made after 2018, using the ProPad,” Wickersham said.
There also is an Autel brand version of the device.
Thieves use the device after breaking into a vehicle. They attach it to the vehicle’s computer system and transfer the key information to a blank key fob they brought with them, officials said.
Morgan said auto theft is more prevalent now than ever.
“I’ve never seen it like it is now,” Morgan said. “It’s crazy.”
Groups of auto thieves are using ProPads and Autels’ to steal several vehicles at a time in parking lots, including new-car lots at auto plants and in employee lots at those plants, in addition to thefts of vehicles parked at homes or other parking lots, he said.
“They’re being used by organized crime groups,” Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said. “We have seen in the past that these groups will recruit juveniles to go in and steal these cars because they won’t fear the fact that they will end up in prison or jail.
“Michigan is one of the highest auto-theft states, and this is one of the reasons for it,” Runestad said. “It’s exploding the cost of insurance.”
Thieves are mostly targeting “high-end, fast cars,” such as Chargers and other vehicles equipped with high-performance engines, said Sgt. Cameron Wright of the Macomb Auto Theft Squad.
Several other officials gathered Monday at the Macomb County Communications and Technology Center in Mount Clemens to talk about the law taking effect.
“This is big for the protection of our community,” Mentzer said.
Officials noted auto theft is not an isolated crime. Criminals often steal vehicles to commit other crimes, and stolen vehicles often result in dangerous high-speed chases.
Officials hope the new charges that can be added to someone charged with auto theft will increase penalties for offenders and prevent them from recommitting and serve as a deterrent.
Fahrat noted when someone’s vehicle gets stolen, they not only lose a valuable possession, “but they’re taking away your ability to have independence in life.”
Wickersham said the laws will help officers prevent auto theft by giving them leverage against someone who is scouting a location from which to steal.
“The hope is this new law will better enable law to investigate these crimes,” he said. “Finding somebody out at 2 o’clock in the morning casing at a dealership or where there’s a yard where there’s many new cars, finding that they’re in the possession of a ProPad, gives the ability of the officer to arrest, to bring in, to interrogate, to get information to prevent vehicles from being stolen.”
Runestad he also hopes to work with the manufacture of AutoProPad and Autel to develop security measures on the devices.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, whose office hosted the event, commended the lawmakers for their efforts.
