Who Says The L.A. Times Isn't Valuable?

For the price of just a quarter Saturday, the L.A. Times taught us how to steal a vehicle:

They preyed on large swaths of Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire and Jefferson Park, sometimes making off with two cars a night.

But police said Friday that the two alleged car thieves were less interested in BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes than in the tried-and-true Toyota Camry. Indeed, detectives think the suspects stole as many as 600 cars in the Wilshire area over the last year — roughly a third of all vehicles taken in the police district.

And they were not part of a sophisticated car-theft ring.

Rather, authorities say, the suspects — Carlos Contreras, 37, and Abelino Gonzales, 41 — are homeless people who made off with the cars and stole any valuables inside to feed their drug habits. (Both pleaded not guilty in court earlier this week.)

Their secret? Los Angeles Police Det. Frank Carrillo said they used "shaved keys" — plain car keys, which can be bought at a hardware store or junkyard, that are filed down — to pick door and ignition locks.

"If you shave the girth of a key, most often it will unlock a car," Carrillo said. When Contreras and Gonzales were arrested this week, they possessed more than 20 shaved keys, he said.

Next Saturday: Pointers on how to rob a convenience store.