A stolen car pulled into Dearborn, and within about 60 seconds police say a city drone was in the air, quietly tailing suspected thieves who were trying to rip off Kias with a low-tech USB trick.
According to Dearborn police, the suspects showed up in a stolen vehicle and immediately started targeting Kia models by working the ignition with a USB cord. Rather than rushing into a risky street chase, officers launched a drone that locked onto the scene and tracked the group until patrol units could move in. The department says that live aerial view let officers close the distance without a prolonged ground pursuit.
Video released Thursday and shown by FOX 2 Detroit captures the drone lifting off and hovering over the parked car roughly a minute after officers were alerted. Police say that real-time look from above gave them the tactical edge they needed to stop the vehicle without turning the neighborhood into a chase route.
Kia theft method, explained
Law enforcement agencies and national outlets have been flagging the so-called USB cable method since the TikTok-era surge from 2021 to 2023, when videos showed thieves using a cable and basic hand tools to start certain older Kia and Hyundai models.
The wave of thefts pushed automakers to roll out software updates and hand out steering-wheel locks as stopgap protection, since many of the affected cars did not have engine immobilizers installed from the factory. As AP News reported, that problem drew the attention of state officials and brought legal pressure on Kia and Hyundai.
How Dearborn's drone program works
Dearborn rolled out a citywide drone-as-first-responder program this year that pipes live drone footage and thousands of camera feeds into a real-time operations center, according to city officials. The rollout, part of the FUSUS monitoring platform, is designed to get officers eyes on a scene within a few minutes, WXYZ reported.
"This allows us to assess situations almost instantly when someone calls for help," Police Chief Issa Shahin told WXYZ, describing how drones can arrive ahead of patrol cars and beam back critical details before officers step out of their vehicles.
City materials and earlier press releases note that license-plate readers and drones have already helped recover stolen vehicles in previous cases, and officials say this latest deployment fits into a broader push to cut auto theft and other crime.
Vehicle owners are still urged to install any available automaker software updates and to consider old-school physical deterrents such as steering-wheel locks. Michigan law enforcement distributed those tools during earlier theft spikes, a response highlighted in local coverage by FOX 2 Detroit.
In the Dearborn incident, police say the drone's rapid launch made the difference, letting officers stop the suspects and wrap things up without a drawn-out chase.
