A Tesla's cameras filmed the moment thieves robbed the vehicle near Palo Alto, California last week.

The car's owner placed the Model 3 in "Sentry Mode" before heading off to an ice hockey game at around 18:00 local time on May 8.

Little did he realise that under an hour later, thieves pulled up alongside the vehicle, smashed windows and stole a backpack full of electronics.

According to the owner, the vehicle didn't have an active internet connection where it was parked so "Sentry Mode" couldn't warn the owner that his Tesla was being robbed.

However, the car's advanced security system did collect some useful evidence.

On Wednesday May 8 I went on a date to SJ Sharks playoff game. Because of our work schedules, I planned to meet my date at location right off 101 where we could leave our vehicles parked and Uber down to the game. I arrived around 17:45 and went into Starbucks to buy my date a drink. I then went back and waited in my car until she arrived just before 18:00 at which point we got in our Uber and headed to the game. I had been wanting to try out Sentry Mode and so I turned it on for the first time right before we left and I’m so glad I had it on now. Unfortunately, because the car did not have an internet connection in that parking lot I never received a notification on my phone that Sentry Mode had been activated. So I only learned of the burglary when we returned later that night after the game I found my windows broken. However, from the video I know what transpired. At 18:43 about 40 min after we left for the game, the individuals in the video pulled alongside my vehicle and first broke its passenger side quarter panel window. Then he reached in and pulled down my back seats. That is how he found my backpack in the trunk. After he saw this he then broke the main rear passenger side window and reached in to steal my backpack. In my backpack were a lot of electronics. I lost my work laptop a 13” MacBook Pro, my personal iPad, an Apple Pencil, Airpods, bose earphones, a Kindle, Rayban Sunglasses, a 3D CAD mouse, a checkbook, a credit card, a debit card, a small amount cash in various in currencies, along with a lot of lesser valuable things.

It is unfortunate that Sentry Mode was activated but the car alarm was not. I have video from the other cameras that show people walking nearby in the parking lot and other vehicles diving by and/or parking. I feel if the alarm would have gone off then they probably would have been deterred and left quickly, but maybe not. I hope that Sentry Mode in the future has a way to detect broken glass and/or can use the internal camera to see if someone is reaching into the vehicle to trigger the alarm. I reached out to Tesla service and they said it’s only triggered if the door is opened when the vehicle is locked. I have also come to learn that Teslas and Model 3s are the top target for these criminals because they assume people with a Model 3 will have valuable things in their car and they assume they usually have a laptop or tablet in there to pass time while supercharging. In fact, it’s difficult to even find a glass repair company that has the glass in stock to repair because this issue is so prevalent in the Bay Area. I eventually found a company by reading through a Tesla forum and had to go with them even though they didn’t work with insurance just so I could drive my car in the rain. I have also found out that this has happened to many of my colleagues with Model 3s and we all do the same thing now. We can no longer use our trunk for anything and when we park we put down our back seats so the trunk contents are clearly visible and post a sign that there are no valuables in hopes that these criminals will not break the glass.

As far as the investigation goes, I reported this to the Mountain View police when I found my car and they sent an officer out to create a report. He told me that Mountain View is averaging around 10 of these types of break-ins a day. He also informed me that they typically do not go after these types of crimes because of Propositions 47 and 57 which basically mean these criminals see little to no jail time and so there is little incentive for them to stop. He stated they would take my video and only go after him if they could tie the crime to a gang somehow. Because my work laptop was stolen, I had to immediately report the theft to my company. My company has since hired a private investigator who immediately recognized the guy in the video. They have also put pressure on the Mountain View police to actually go after this guy. The security team at my company told me that the police did identify the guy and were in the process of issuing a warrant. They know that he is located up in the Oakland area where there is a ring of criminals responsible for most of the car burglaries in the Bay Area. It seems that this has become quite a problem because I hear about one almost everyday talking to friends and colleagues.

Please let me know if there is any other information you would like to have. I hope that my story will help inform other owners of Model 3s and possibly inspire to Tesla to improve either the security of the rear seats (although these criminals will still probably break the glass) or find a way to make Sentry Mode even more powerful. However, overall I have been super pleased by the effectiveness of Sentry Mode to capture this great footage of the crime in action and hope that will lead to justice.