Nerdy Felons Steal $190k in Microchips

While most of us are at the height of the giving feeling this holiday season, some crooks out of Silicon Valley are more interested in taking. In a clever heist straight out of CHiPs ’07, a gang of thieves made off with $190,000 in microchips and a Mazda using a modified crash-and-dash scheme to not only collect the loot, but make a getaway as well.

The Mazda MPV was trasporting 100,000 microchips from a Fremont, CA warehouse when it was rear-ended by a white minivan. Both cars pulled over to survey the damage, as any driver would in a fender bender. While the MPV driver and his co-worker were talking about insurance and damage with the Van driver, another man slipped behind the wheel of the victom’s Mazda and took off. The Van driver then likewise motored off, leaving the microchip manufacturer employees alone and bewildered on the side of the road. Nice moves, crooks.

While we think highway robbery, especially of precious, lovely tech gear, is wrong, we do have to privately chuckle to ourselves in regards to the simplicity and sophistication of the larceny, as these masterminds found a way to make off with a small fortune in high-tech hardware without using weapons, nobody getting hurt, and with no damage, save to the van and a stolen Mazda MPV. The Mazda’s license number is 4NKV115. If you have any idea what’s going on or have a lead for the authorities in this case, you should call them at (408) 615-4815.

Theft Details [SF Gate]