About 40 Laguna Beach residents who own 1990’s era Porsches this week received a special delivery to their home from the police department: a crime alert bulletin suggesting that thieves are targeting their vehicles and how to avoid getting hit.
Two late-model sports cars, each worth at least $50,000 and equipped with alarms, disappeared overnight from residential streets in the last two months, Capt. Jason Kravetz said.
These late model Porsches are popular on the resale market and fetch more because of an air-cooled engine system, versus current models that are water-cooled, said Kravetz, recapping an explanation provided by one of the owners missing a Porsche.
Kravetz said he believes a few other thefts of similar models have occurred in south county cities, though he provided no details.
He said citizen volunteers delivered to Porsche owners the crime bulletins, which suggested they lock their cars, never leave them idling while unattended, to park in lit areas or use a garage, and to etch their vehicle identification number on windows and parts.
A 1996 Porsche 911 stolen worth $55,000 was stolen from the 900 block of Canyon View Drive on June 6 and a 1997 Porsche 993 valued at $50,000 was stolen from the 700 block of Nyes Place on July 10, police said. Kravetz said a regional auto theft task force was informed of the thefts, but he declined to say if a regional investigation is underway.
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