Oct 29, 2009 11:09 pm US/Eastern
BWI Airport Thieves Targeting Cars
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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Police are on alert at BWI Airport as thieves are now targeting cars in the parking lots.
CBS
Police are on alert at BWI Airport as thieves are now targeting cars in the parking lots. They're not after what's inside your car but what's under the hood.
Kelly McPherson explains why some cars may be targeted.
More than 140,000 drivers trust their cars will be safe at the BWI long-term parking.
That wasn't the case for Michelle and Michael Wherley.
"We got there, and I fired it up and it sounded like a Harley threw up. Like, booom, boooom, crazy loud. We knew something was wrong, obviously, we knew it was the exhaust," said Michael.
"We never thought in a million years that we would come home from a trip and that a piece of the undercarriage would be missing from the car," said Michelle.
Sometime over the four day trip to Boston, someone got under the car and, using a powertool, sawed off the catalytic converter.
It cost the Wherleys $1,400 to get a new one.
Police say this is a recent trend at BWI, specifically for Toyotas or four-wheel drive vehicles.
"We are working this case very aggressively. We've got our detectives, our special operations division involved," said Jonathan Green, MdTA.
The MdTA isn't sure if this is one person or several people targeting the parking lot, but they believe the motive is thieves are taking the catalytic converters to scrap yards for the precious metal inside.
"When you enter the parking lot, there's no sign that says this is even a possible issue. It just says secure your valuables which makes you think it's just things inside of your car," said Michelle.
Police say 10 reports have been filed, and this is high priority. No suspects have been found in the limited camera footage.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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