Car thefts are commonplace in the United States. In fact, the NHTSA says a car thief steals a vehicle every 31 seconds. Most thefts are crimes of opportunity, with thieves looking for unlocked vehicles and easy targets. However, you don’t often see a thief steal a car from the scene of a field sobriety test. 

Police officers were shocked when a daring car thief stole a car while the driver took a field sobriety test nearby

When a police officer pulls a motorist over for probable inebriation, they have a couple of options for assessment. One such tool is a breath analyzer, or “breathalyzer.” A suspect will breathe into a portable device, which will then measure their blood alcohol concentration (BAC). However, officers will often request that a driver take a standardized field sobriety test (SFST) involving balance, motor, and eye-focus tests.   

As you might imagine, an SFST requires a driver to exit their car. However, no one expects a thief to steal their car while they take a sobriety test with a police officer. According to The Minnesota Star Tribune, Kyle Vanwert, 39, watched a woman take a sobriety test with a St. Paul police officer. As the woman was completing her test, Vanwert “jumped into the car” and drove away. 

Fortunately for the driver performing the field sobriety test tasks, police found her to be under the legal limit for alcohol. Better yet, the Apple AirTag in the woman’s car helped police officers track the vehicle and arrest Vanwert. In addition to the car theft charges, Vanwert is looking at burglary charges from a separate crime.

Now, St. Paul is a bit of a success story when it comes to reducing car theft crimes. The Minnesota city saw a surge in car thefts over the last couple of years. And like many tragic cases of vehicular theft, the viral Hyundai and Kia theft challenges drove the surge. However, the police department in the city took a preventive approach to the problem with driver education as a cornerstone tactic, per NPR.