AP Newswire August 21, 2006 Police Seek Hybrid Vehicle in Drive by Shooting Local police are seeking help from the public in conjunction with automatic weapons fire at a neighborhood car dealer. Several vehicles at the Cadillac-Chevrolet dealer in the 3300 block of Figueroa Street were damaged in a hail of gunfire. Several witnesses were standing in front of the dealership when a silver Toyota Prius drove slowly down the street and a person in the passenger seat leaned out and opened fire with an automatic weapon around 9 p.m., police said. Several bullets penetrated the windshield of a Hummer H2 and heavily damaged a second sports utility vehicle. The motivation for the crime is yet to be determined. A police officer with the anti-gang task force, speaking on condition of anonymity revealed that street gangs are utilizing hybrid technology with startling regularity. “The vehicles tend to be very quiet in electric mode, and lend themselves to other desirable modifications. They represent an efficient tool to perpetrate crimes of this nature.†The officer revealed a growing “Prius street credibility†among area gang members. It is not clear whether economic sensibilities play into gang use of hybrids.
LOL - Prius street credibility! Rancid - one of the witnesses said they heard commercial free music coming from within... I'm sure you were at the race track.. Did the Prius have bright yellow HOV stickers too?
That'd be funny if it actually did happen... then I get show all my friends that the Prius has street cred now =).. very funny though!
Sounds like an Urban Legend to me. If the Prius is a 'Gay Car' they wouldn't be caught dead in one. I'd also like to know where the average gang member is going to get $20,000 to buy one. You can't put "drug dealer" as occupation on a bank loan. And since when would gang members hit a car dealership? They didn't pay their protection money this month? I don't see gang members as being that environmentally active. Maybe some GreenPeace or Sierra club nutcases.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LowCO2 @ Aug 22 2006, 02:35 PM) [snapback]307808[/snapback]</div> DOH!! Oh, wait...I think they said the Prius was silver. Mine's black. Whew!! I'm definitely innocent!!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Aug 22 2006, 04:04 PM) [snapback]307859[/snapback]</div> Dealership? why not? They'll pay cash for the car so dealers will like them. Just like how they'll just walk in and buy an Econoline for the job. It also grabs less attention if a Prius is parked or "loitering" versus a white unmarked van.
Prius drivers are a bunch of rabble rousers!! Shooting up the Hummers, what else will we be persecuted for?!?!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RonH @ Aug 22 2006, 06:34 PM) [snapback]307890[/snapback]</div> Heh, heh. Guilty as charged. I thought smoking a dealership full of hummers was a dead giveway. I also thought this might be a way to lend the Prius some "mad street cred." Fo shizzle.
April's fool or not.... you're not the only one that's thought of this. When I drive down my alley in stealth mode I get looks from some of the gang members in the neighborhood. Right now it's disdain while they work on their trucks. But eventually the wheels are going to turn. If it weren't for the image of the Prius as a "Gay" car, slow car, old people's car, geek car or whatever derogatory epithet that can be attached to it, I wouldn't be surprised if some gangs started doing exactly what you describe. (Only not targeting Hummer dealerships.) Right now it's being dissed on South Park and in the movies. But that may change. The public is still pretty surprised at stealth mode. Eventually a brilliant criminal will get an idea and use the Prius for evil. Then instead of the Prius being reviled for it's expense it will be targeted as contributing to crime. And it doesn't even need to happen. Someone could just invent an Urban legend, as you did. Because some people will grasp at anything to denegrate a hybrid and the Prius being the most visible and successful hybrid, it will be that target.
Omigosh! Could this be a Prius owner who's had PETA training? OK to be green, but commiting violence to gas guzzlers is a no-no!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(genalex @ Aug 24 2006, 12:36 AM) [snapback]308707[/snapback]</div> UPDATE: The perpetrators have been captured. They have been sentenced to purchase the damaged vehicles, albeit at 0% interest for 72 months. Single digit gas mileage will teach these punks that using EV mode for crime doesn't pay.
I cant wait for the Prius with 24†chrome wheels, with 12†and 15†subs in the back with 10 TV’s on the inside, and hydraulic suspensions to. Oh and I almost forgot the tasteful hood art airbrushed on.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IAO @ Sep 4 2006, 08:36 PM) [snapback]314348[/snapback]</div> Can't wait to see what MTV's Pimp My Ride would do with a Prius...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(esskay @ Sep 7 2006, 11:08 PM) [snapback]316208[/snapback]</div> I CAN wait. Preferably for a VERY long time! :huh:
