Owner believes thief used key programmer when stealing his Jeep from downtown Nashville parking garage

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Ethan Payne says when he got home from a trip, he found his Jeep was missing from his apartment’s parking garage.

He told WSMV4 that what was supposed to be a short trip to Chipotle turned into a full-out search for his Jeep.

”We went from one to six. We have six levels of parking and there was absolutely no sign of my car there.”

Payne says he checked twice with the apartment’s concierge, “We did that and there was no car.”

He even called tow companies trying to locate his car. Until, he says he realized it was stolen.

In surveillance video from the entrance and exit of the apartment’s parking garage, you can see his Jeep leaving the garage but Payne wasn’t driving. He was inside his apartment.

”It was one of the most unsettling feelings. It’s just like one of the biggest violations of privacy that there is besides someone breaking into your house.”

Payne believes thieves programmed his key fob to get it started. This is a part of a growing trend, nationwide where thieves can program a key. All they have to do is be close enough to your fob. Local locksmiths suggest putting your key fob in a can or a protective pouch so a key programmer can’t read the key’s radio waves.

Payne says he’s talking to his apartment complex about getting cameras on every level of the garage. He’s also in the process of getting another car but he’ll miss the old one.

”It was a fun car, it was fast, it was loud but at the end of the day it’s a car. It’s a piece of material, it’s replaceable.”

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