THE GOODS : The Bag Grab : Thieves are bypassing stereos for air bags, and crooked repair shops are reselling them. But there are ways to take the wind out of their sales.

He went to bed that night believing his green Jaguar was safe, as usual, in its spot in the secured underground garage.

But the next morning when the movie executive--he asks for anonymity--opened the door to his convertible, he saw something amiss. Part of the dashboard had been dismantled and the passenger-side air bag was gone.

“It’s easy. They simply unscrewed the panel,” he says. “But they left all the good stuff, the cassettes, behind.”

The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station took the report. In recent weeks the station has received reports of 15 air-bag thefts.

“We will get about seven or eight a night, and then nothing for another week or so,” says Detective Dennis Salazar of the burglary division. “There is nothing consistent, and never one particular car.”

The first incidents of air-bag theft surfaced in Detroit about two years ago, and the crime has subsequently been reported in large cities nationwide.

“Since then we have started to see a pattern of claims coming in under comprehensive coverage for theft,” says Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president at Highway Loss Data Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based research company funded by the nation’s auto insurers.

“The stereo phenomenon of the ‘80s is translating into the air-bag phenom of the ‘90s,” says Hazelbaker, who estimates that as many as 5% of all auto insurance claims are for air-bag theft.

In Los Angeles, most law enforcement officials remain cautious about providing statistics in the absence of proof of a growing trend. Some say air-bag theft has declined since the beginning of the year when there was a flurry of activity.

West Los Angeles was the hardest hit with a series of such incidents last February. But, with the apprehension and recent conviction of an individual, “It’s not a big thing going on with us now,” says Detective Randy Fredrickson, auto theft coordinator for the West Los Angeles division.

Detective Ernest Guzman of the Van Nuys auto theft division says although reports of air-bag theft come through periodically, stereos and cellular phones still rank highest among items stolen from cars. At the Beverly Hills Police Department, Detective Joe Chirillo of the auto theft division and Executive Officer Lt. Frank Salcido report that air-bag theft in their area is “pretty much a case of hit and miss.”

“When it comes, it comes in spurts,” Chirillo says. “They like sub-garages, especially if three or four Mercedes are there.”

This crime has two victims--the one whose air bag is stolen and the consumer who unknowingly buys a stolen air bag believing it to be a new bag of the model recommended for his or her car.

It’s a field ripe for thieves and a handful of crooked auto repair shop owners because once an air bag is deployed, it cannot be repaired and used again. The car owner must have a replacement installed, and these are not available from auto supply stores, but only through car dealers and repair shops.

Here’s how the scam works: A thief breaks into a car and within about 45 seconds dismantles the dash on the passenger side or yanks the bag from the steering wheel, leaving a gaping hole.

Just as quickly, the thieves sell the merchandise to dishonest body shop owners, who pay from $50 to $250 for a stolen module. Some junkyards also buy from thieves, and some remove bags from salvage cars and sell them at nice profits to auto repair shops that sell them to customers as new.

Along comes the customer, who must replace a bag that has been stolen or rendered useless in a crash. The cost ranges from $300 for a Chrysler model to $600 for some Toyota bags, and on up to $700 to $900 for a Mercedes-Benz driver-side air bag and $1,100 to $1,800 for a Mercedes passenger unit.

Why the big prices? High prices for parts that seldom need replacing are typical of the automotive business, says Hardy Myers, chief financial officer of Safety Components International Inc., a Costa Mesa-based manufacturer and supplier of air-bag components.

“The automotive replacement is typically three to four times as expensive as the original component because you’re talking about very low volume for parts when they are out of production,” Myers says. “If you look at statistics, the number of air-bag deployments is very low when compared to the total number of air bags out there. Who ever thought anybody would steal air bags?”

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Jay Minotas, an insurance coordinator for General Motors (GM’s replacement air bags range from $450 to $600), points out that the air bag is a part that’s “highly engineered” and agrees that the lack of demand for the part and small production numbers drive up the cost. “If we built the same part for 5 million cars, the price would be lower,” he says. “We have four pages of air-bag parts. Maybe only 50,000 of one type are made for one car model.”

Because the company must make air bags available to customers despite the low demand, “We have to inventory them and keep them on the shelves,” Minotas adds, and “that goes into the price.”

The Palos Hills, Ill.-based National Insurance Crime Bureau labels the air-bag problem a matter of theft and fraud.

“We’ve seen body shops contracting with certain thieves to go out and steal,” says spokesman Jon Hoch. “They put these bags into your vehicle and charge you and your insurance company up to $1,500. Even the dealers are being victimized. We’re getting reports all the time of dealers being hit with 20 air bags missing when they open in the morning.” Car rental agencies also are experiencing substantial losses.

Hoch says the insurance industry encourages customers to demand that auto repair shops furnish them with the original invoice for an air bag and insist that the bag be new. “You don’t want an older model that has been sitting around for five years.”

GM’s Minotas also urges buyers to be sure they are getting new air bags, not salvaged or stolen ones, because the bags are tailored to specific car models. “Most insurance companies require new bags,” he says.

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There’s a new product that can be used in conjunction with Club-type devices to prevent air-bag theft. The Cap, manufactured by the San Clemente-based Etc’cessories, is available at Fedco, Chief Auto Parts and other outlets for $36.95.

The pan-shaped device with several slots, attached with a steering wheel lock, covers the entire wheel and air bag. Company president Frank Mattingly, a former salesman for the Club, says the product also works well with the Lockjaw, a device made by Hull Industries in Solon, Ohio, that hooks onto the steering wheel and across the cross bar, employing a deadbolt action.

Car owners can make it a little tougher for air-bag thieves by installing alarms, steering wheel locks and other devices. But law enforcement officials and insurers concur that these items are only deterrents and can usually be defeated in about the same time it takes to remove an air bag--that is, less than a minute.