Tesla’s Sentry Mode feature is an in-car surveillance system, that usually captures incidents of the vehicle being keyed, or suspects trying to break into it.
But sometimes the cameras capture something else happening nearby, as was the case for this Model 3 owner in Langley, British Columbia.
Derek, who did not want to be identified further, had taken his 29-foot travel trailer out of storage Wednesday evening and parked it in his driveway.
In the early morning hours on Thursday, the Model 3’s cameras were activated by someone riding their bike around Derek’s cul-de-sac. The suspect rides away, when only a few minutes later a truck arrives and promptly backs into his driveway.
The suspects emerge, quickly hook up the trailer, pull it over the wheel chocks and drive away with cables and ties still dragging behind it. Derek told Global News it only took two minutes for them to arrive, hook it up, and steal his RV.
“It was like waking up out of a dream, I wasn’t sure at first, I kind of saw nothing and couldn’t remember did I actually bring it home…and 10 seconds later it hit me that it was actually gone.“
The video was shared with local police and on social media, which quickly generated several tips after it was spotted one hour away in rural Agassiz.
The good news is later on Thursday, police were able to locate the trailer, along with other potentially stolen trailers and stolen goods. The bad news is the trailer was damaged, and will require repairs before Derek can use it again.
Many Tesla owners don’t turn on Sentry Mode when they’re parked at home, with Tesla even offering the feature to not have the feature active when at home or work. After seeing this incident, it might not be a bad idea to leave it on.
You can see the full video at Global News.
