UP Police Offers Simple Fix to Thwart Taillight Thieves
Thieves need less than two minutes of time and a few basic tools to steal taillights from late-model Ford pickup trucks, such as the F-150, F-250, and Raptor.
And, unfortunately for Ford truck owners, at least one taillight thief targeted University Park in January. According to People Newspapers’ crime reports, about a half-dozen sets of lights were stolen between Jan. 12 and 19.
It costs owners approximately $4,500 to purchase a pair of replacement lights, an amount that doesn’t include installing the lights and repairing damage that occurred during the theft, said Jase Schellinger, a detective with the University Park Police Department.
But the UP police have found a simple solution to this high-tech heist: replace Ford’s four taillight screws with a different type that doesn’t fit thieves’ drill bits. The department is offering the fix free to Park Cities residents.
The UP police have replaced the taillight screws on more than 120 Ford trucks since 2021, and none of the lights with replacement screws have been reported stolen.
“As rudimentary as it is, it works,” Schellinger said.
Thieves target the taillights on some late model Ford trucks because the lights contain expensive sensors used in driver assistance systems, explained Steve Petersen, president of Redline Technical Group, Inc., which sold University Park its screws.
Some of the stolen lights end up on Facebook, Craig’s List, and other marketplaces, Petersen said. He speculated that more stolen lights are sold through word of mouth.
The recent taillight thefts are the first in University Park since 2022, said Schellinger, who brought the idea of screw replacement to the police department after hearing about it from a detective in San Diego.
Schellinger said he appreciates being able to offer an immediate fix to owners who are either concerned about or have experienced theft.
“It is a solution,” he said. “When you’ve been doing police work for 26 years, it’s nice to find things that actually work.”
