It was in February of this year that Rocío fulfilled her dream of having the car she had always wanted. Tanker, 4×4, spacious for a family of seven, a vehicle that she even personally went to Puerto Montt to look for. However, that joy was short-lived. And just four days after the purchase, and already back in La Serena, the car was stolen.
“Since I work downtown, I was especially careful to park it in a visible, illuminated place. I passed by that street at 3:27 p.m. and looked at it (…). I drove by again ten minutes later and the car had simply disappeared,” she tells us excitedly.
With a mixture of disbelief and surprise, he began to carry out the procedures related to the complaint. When she was on her way to Carabineros, she says, the previous owner of the vehicle called her to let her know that the documents and videos where the car appeared were in Las Compañías. “We left immediately with Carabineros, and not only found the papers, but also the hidden car, which had a broken window and was missing the computer. So, we made a quick recovery and thanks to the help of the police, we were able to move him, because since he was without the computer, we had to drag him,” says Rocío.
There, he kept the vehicle parked for three weeks, while he gathered the missing parts, including the computer, essential for the car to start and stay moving. “There came the big surprise and a whole bucket of cold water. It was around 10 at night, when they told me that the car was not where we kept it,” says Rocío.
Read also: Victim reports theft of his vehicle in Ovalle: there have been 42 so far this year
And indeed, in a kind of deja vu, he was experiencing, for the second time in a month, the theft of the car he had dreamed of so much. “What we believe is that it was the same people, because to turn it on they had to have the computer that had been stolen from us the first time. “We are talking about a specific device, which is not so easy to obtain, and here the videos and witnesses tell us that indeed, the car left walking,” he adds.
For the second time then, Rocío arrived at a police station to file a complaint, and from there, everything has been uncertain for her, who only asks for answers about what happened to her car.
“We went to the Prosecutor’s Office and without further details, they told us that the case had been closed. So we had to go back and ask for it to be reopened, but I don’t understand that these initiatives should come from people, since it is the authorities who should carry out the investigations. It is hard to believe that there are two complaints about the same vehicle, videos, suspects, and specific background regarding what is happening with Toyota vehicles, that no action has been requested by specialized police, but that everything is left there, waiting to see. what’s happening. “This generates despair and anguish in ordinary people, who have no way of knowing what happens with our complaints,” he criticizes.
And faced with this vision, Carabineros explained that “we understand and share the legitimate concern of Rocío, as well as that of many other neighbors who may have suffered the theft of their vehicle. We are talking about the fact that, for many, a car is the second largest investment after owning their own home, and for this reason, we work with a lot of commitment and professionalism to give them answers. But it is also important that the community knows and understands that when there is a crime, they must file a report and based on that. The specialized police act in accordance with the procedures entrusted to us by the Public Ministry. In the specific case of Rocío, no additional instructions have been received,” explained the head of the Vehicle Commissioning and Search Section, Lieutenant María Paz Valdés.
Despite this, the work of the SEBV has given Rocío certain lights of hope. And on April 25, and as part of an investigation linked precisely to vehicle theft, the specialized section of Carabineros managed to recover two custom cars, which were kept hidden in the town of Lambert. One of them, a Toyota jeep that was precisely using the patents of Rocío’s Toyota Fortuner.
“Here we are talking about cloning or ‘twinning’, which has to do with copying a license plate of a similar vehicle to be used in one that is charged with theft and thus distracting the police investigation. In the Coquimbo Region we are working especially,” explains Lieutenant Valdés, who also added that at the regional level, they have detected that criminals maintain a preference for the theft of van and station wagon type vehicles, due to their mechanical condition. 4×4 and speed, makes driving through non-enabled passes easier.
In the same sense, he assured that the community is suggested to implement preventive measures to avoid this type of scourge with high economic value. “From what we have been able to determine, criminals avoid stealing vehicles that have greater difficulty. One of the most well-known and basic elements are the steering wheel locks, pit bulls on the wheels or pedal locks. Other useful mechanisms are the use of GPS and autonomous battery current cutters, and now what is being implemented quite successfully are some types of metal plates, which are installed precisely so that there is greater protection for the computers of the users. cars”, concluded the head of the SEBV.
