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Tesla app interface used to pester thieves who stole a woman's Tesla Model 3

Tesla Model 3 Owner Tortures Thieves With Tesla App Until They Give up

Car theft is on the rise in America. You can take some steps to keep you and your car safe, but ultimately there is only so much you can do unless you have a Tesla Model 3, the Tesla app, and a can-do attitude. That is exactly how this Annabell Brett handled her Tesla Model …

Car theft is on the rise in America. You can take some steps to keep you and your car safe, but ultimately there is only so much you can do unless you have a Tesla Model 3, the Tesla app, and a can-do attitude. That is exactly how this Annabell Brett handled her Tesla Model 3 being stolen. 

A Tesla Model S electric car is on display during 2020 Beijing International Automotive Exhibition
The Tesla Model S | VCG/VCG via Getty Images

Who knew the Tesla app could be so useful

In a scene that must have made Elon Musk very proud, Brett took some very tech-savvy steps to get her stolen car back from a couple of thieves.  Annabell Brett was getting ready to head to work when her phone lit up with alerts saying the car alarm for her Tesla Model 3 was going off. Her friend went to go check it out and discovered that the car was gone.

Tesla app interface used to pester thieves who stole a woman's Tesla Model 3
Tesla app interfacce | Tesla

According to Carscoops, where most people would have taken this opportunity to call the police and report the car stolen and wait for the rozzers to give it a go, Brett decided to take matters into her own hands. 

Instead of grabbing a weapon or a posse of roughnecks, she simply fired up her Tesla app and found that her car was still nearby. At this point, Brett decided to chase after the thieves and also alerted the police (I choose to believe this was merely a backup plan.) 

What good is the Tesla app against thieves? 

For starters, the app helped Brett keep track of where the thieves were while she was pursuing them. The app also allows the user to control things like the horn, climate control, windows, and other such controls typically found around the dash area. 

As Brett pursued her car and its temporary caretakers, she remembered all of these various remote controls and starting messing with the thieves. She was rolling up and down the windows, hitting seat warmers, honking the horn of her Tesla Model 3, and anything else she could to pester the driver and draw as much attention to the car as possible.

I choose to believe the thieves thought they had stolen a haunted Tesla, plagued by the disembodied spirit of Elon Musk, who, as they now believe, watches over all Tesla vehicles. 

Stealing this car wasn’t their only mistake

After the criminals had enough of their ghostly torment, they pulled over and ditched the car, and made a run for it. In their hurried escape, they made a series of really foolish mistakes.

Instead of grabbing their stuff like a toolbox and one of their licenses, they left in such a hurry that they must have forgotten these items. If leaving your I.D. at the scene of the crime was stupid enough, the I.D. was in an envelope marked with his address. You really can’t make this stuff up. 

To make matters even worse for the pair, Tesla’s Sentry Mode captured the whole event on camera, complete with faces and all. Although that is a nice bit of evidence, the police wouldn’t need that video footage because of the whole, leaving an I.D. there, part. 

Needless to say, the police found and apprehended the suspects pretty darn quickly. Brett successfully tortured the thieves with the Tesla app, making it clear they picked the wrong Tesla to steal.

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