Twenty-seven Saturn vehicles reported stolen in Evanston, Skokie and Chicago since August apparently were targeted because it is “fairly easy to alter a key” to steal those vehicles, Cmdr. Chuck Wernick of the Evanston Police Department said Monday.
But a Saturn spokesman said the Saturn make has nothing to do with the thefts.
Raymond Michael West, 34, of the 1600 block of West Jonquil Terrace, was arrested Wednesday and charged Friday with stealing two of the cars. West told police on Thursday to stealing one of the cars but said he was not involved in the other 26 thefts, Wernick said.
The Saturns were reported stolen between Aug. 11 and Oct. 30, and 21 of them were reported stolen in Evanston, Wernick said. All of them were manufactured between 1992 and 1996, he said.
Glenview Saturn Asst. Sales Manager Joe Halpin, who said he was assisting police with the investigation, said Saturn vehicles are no easier to steal than other cars. Saturn Corp. spokesman Bill Betts said the company did not make special changes in 1996 to its vehicles’ locks.
“Jiggler” keys, which are cut to fit in multiple vehicle ignitions, were found on West when he was arrested, Wernick said.
Wernick said he thinks West took the car that police say he admitted to stealing to travel between home and work. Twelve Saturns were recovered near West’s home, and seven were found in an alley near Tag’s Pastry Shop, 2008 Central St., where West worked.
Wernick said there was no damage to the recovered cars and compared the alleged thefts to “joy riding.”
Several of the stolen Saturns still have not been found, Wernick said.
Police were conducting surveillance near the pastry shop when they arrested West at about 11 p.m. Wednesday while he was driving a “newly stolen Saturn from Chicago,” Wernick said. West was held for two nights at EPD and charged Friday with two counts of possessing a stolen motor vehicle.
Police are continuing to investigate the thefts that West denied being involved in, Wernick said. West is scheduled to appear Nov. 29 at Circuit Court in Skokie.
