A man from Washington state has captured a thief on surveillance camera easily breaking into his car using a mysterious electronic device . Tom Dahl , 85 , from West Seattle has shared the frightening video taken from his driveway to warn neighbors of the new ways criminals are hacking into cars . The thief in the video is shown attempting to open the locked door of Mr Dahl 's Honda Ridgeline , but is unable to so he takes off his backpack , holds it up to the window of the vehicle , and seconds later unlocks the car . Scroll down for video . A man from Seattle has captured a thief on surveillance camera easily breaking into his car using a mysterious electronic device ( thief pictured above ) The thief in the video is shown attempting to open the locked door , but is unable to so he takes off his backpack and holds it up to the window of the vehicle , and seconds later unlocks the car . Tom Dahl ( above ) , 85 , from West Seattle has shared the frightening video taken from his driveway to warn neighbors of the new ways criminals are hacking into cars . The incident , which occurred last month , involved an unidentified 'key fob ' to unlock the vehicle , Detective Patrick Michaud from the Seattle Police Department told Daily Mail Online . Detective Michaud said police received reports of the break in on February 14 at 3am , and that the man seen in the video has not been arrested . The man reportedly searched the contents of Mr Dahl 's glove compartment and took a club that was on his steering wheel , as well as a few store rewards cards that were left in the car , Daily Mail Online was told . While he is lucky that the car did not contain anything of value , Mr Dahl said he is concerned with how easy it was for the man to get into his car , according to Fox 13 . 'You used to have a wire that you slid down the window , when it was mechanical . But now it 's electronic , ' said Mr Dahl . The man approaches Mr Dahl 's car and pulls the handles realizing the door is locked . He then removes his backpack and flashes a light into the car . The man holds the backpack up the door and within seconds it is unlocked . He gets into the vehicle and searches through the contents of Mr Dahl 's glove compartment taking a club on the steering wheel as well as store rewards cards . Another victim of attempted car theft in January , Lars Carlson , said a thief used the same tactic when breaking into his car , according to an earlier report . Mr Carlson had his car broken into two times before he installed a surveillance camera at his home . 'It 's running through codes automatically or it 's a button they 're pushing or something is happening , but whatever it does it seems to trick the car into thinking he 's got the legitimate keys , ' Mr Carlson said at the time of the incident . While he is lucky that the car did not contain anything of value , Mr Dahl said he is concerned with how easy it was for the man to get into his car ( above Mr Dahl 's Honda Ridgeline pictured in his driveway ) Captain Eric Sano from the police department said that it is apparent as technology adapts , criminals are adapting , so it is important for authorities to be ahead of criminals . Scott Wagner , a special agent from the National Insurance Crime Bureau , said in January that he had knowledge of a special system being used . He said : 'It ’ s a little black box . They can carry it in a backpack , when you hit your fob to unlock your car they can actually steal the codes to your keypad and then unlock your car later . ' Detective Michaud said there has not been a lot of similarly reported cases in the area over the years and that he is unsure of what kind of device is being used in the break ins . Another victim of attempted car theft in January , Lars Carlson ( above ) , said a thief used the same tactic when breaking into his car . Mr Carlson said : 'Whatever it does it seems to trick the car into thinking he 's got the legitimate keys ' ( above a thief breaking into his car earlier this year ) ' I 've seen it both ways - a device in their hand as well as a device as big as an iron carried in a backpack , ' he said . 'As technology moves on , the device gets smaller . ' As for how to stay protected as a driver as this mystery device looms , Detective Michaud warns drivers to keep valuables out of the car . He said : 'We ask that people to not keep anything of value in the car . If you are going to leave your registration in the vehicle cross off identifying information , and let the officer know you crossed it off for security concerns . ' The investigation into the incident is ongoing .
Tom Dahl , 85 , from Washington has shared frightening video taken from his driveway to warn neighbors of new tactics used to hack into cars . Thief is shown pulling handle of locked Honda Ridgeline , taking off his backpack , holding it up to window and seconds later enters car . Police said an unidentified 'key fob ' was used to break into vehicle .