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Cops Put Unlocked Bait Car in Chicago - They'll Never Make That Mistake Again

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When officers with the Chicago Police Department placed a so-called bait car by a city sidewalk a couple years back in the hopes of catching some would-be car thieves, their plan backfired in a big way.

According to the Chicago Tribune, a bait car “is meant to be stolen” and “is planted on streets where that’s most likely to happen.”

Inside each bait car is “an array of technical gear, from a global positioning system to cameras to a kill switch that allows police to switch off the engine from a laptop computer. Once the car is stolen, police turn it off and lock the doors to keep the thief from getting away while officers move in to make an arrest.”

But what happens if the crooks find the surveillance equipment? The Chicago Police Department learned the answer the hard way during an episode of the truTV reality television program “Bait Car.”

While it remains unclear exactly when the episode was filmed or published, you can tell from watching it that the attempted plan occurred sometime at night. That differed from the standard “Bait Car” setup, which tends to involve a running car tempting thieves during daylight after being left unattended by a “thoughtless driver.”

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Leaving a car full of expensive surveillance equipment in danger in a stationary, unlocked vehicle turned out to be a mistake they’re not likely to make again.

It began with the officers who were surveilling the scene noticing that a crowd of goons was swooping in on the car like a school of piranha.

Instead of driving off with it, however, the thugs began looting the vehicle for whatever items it contained, much to the disappointment of Chicago’s finest.

For a second, the cops thought they got a break when one of the thugs found the key and used it to switch the car on. But instead of driving away, the thug simply moved the car into an actual parking spot, turned the vehicle off and began wiping away his fingerprints.

“Damnit!” exclaimed one cop.

Watch the full clip below to see what happened next:



Apparently, the thugs wanted to get in the trunk of the car, which the cops had locked for a very good reason — because it contained all their surveillance equipment.

And unfortunately, the thugs happened to be more clever than most. Using a crowbar, they managed to ply the vehicle’s back seat open and gain access to all the equipment.

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“Damnit!” exclaimed one officer. “Tell them to come in!”

And that was that — the plot to arrest unsuspecting criminals had failed, and it was time for the cops to show themselves. It’s unclear what happened afterward, though one can only hope the CPD were able to arrest some of the thugs for theft, at the very least.

If nothing else, this video will serve as a lesson to all cops: Baiting ruthless, clever thugs — particularly at night — ain’t as easy as it sounds.

Please share this story on Facebook and Twitter and let us know what you think about the CPD’s failed plan?

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