SANTA CLARITA HIT BY RASH OF AIR BAG THEFTS : 10 CARS BROKEN INTO IN 1 WEEK.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

Automotive air bags have become a precious commodity in Santa Clarita, with thieves drilling into at least 10 vehicles within the past week to steal the inflatable protective devices from steering columns, authorities said Friday.

The thieves then turn around and sell the air bags to small body shops at a fourth of their value, or even less, said Deputy Tom Gibson of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station.

The bags can cost up to $2,000 to replace, Gibson said. In comparison, he said thieves sell them for just a couple hundred dollars.

Gloria Sanchez was one of 10 victims whose cars were hit this week in a Valencia parking lot at her workplace in the 24300 block of Lyons Avenue. The Arleta resident said she was especially hard hit because she was working to save money for Christmas gifts.

``When I got to the car, just the steering wheel was there with wires hanging out from the air bag,'' she said of the Tuesday incident. ``I think it's not fair at all. I have to pay a deductible of $500 from my insurance to pay for this.''

Her air bag will cost $1,000 to replace.

In a technique similar to most of the cases, the thief used either an ice pick or drilling device to create a quarter-inch hole near the door lock to open up Sanchez's 1995 Toyota Corolla, according to sheriff's records.

Air bags are commonly stolen in the Los Angeles area, but for Santa Clarita and the valley, the scheme is new, Gibson said.

Another victim's air bag was stolen from the driver's side of her 1993 Honda Accord in the same Valencia parking lot in which Sanchez was parked, also on Tuesday.

Some other vehicles and locations where driver's side air bags were stolen in Santa Clarita on Monday included:

A 1993 Toyota Tercel parked at the Santa Clarita Athletic Club in the 24600 block of Wiley Canyon Road.

A 1994 Toyota Camry parked at the Valencia Country Club in the 27300 block of Tourney Road.

A 1993 Toyota Tercel parked in the 26100 block of Avenue Hall in Valencia.

Details were not immediately available on five other vehicles that were broken into and had air bags stolen on Thursday night, authorities said.

Locating the stolen air bags is difficult because they commonly do not have serial numbers, authorities said.

``Tracking them is probably literally almost impossible,'' Gibson said.