You do realize that unless you know what dealership the car was purchased/serviced at, you need more than photo ID? Because the registered owner has to be listed in their computer, and if they've never done business at that dealership, then they have to show vehicle registration ..... ?Why wouldn't they? Especially a LIST of VINs that could have vehicles in their area.
Let's take this for example:
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/car.thieves.commuter.2.1106961.html
How much would a thief LOVE to have a list of VINs in front of them that could tell them where a vehicle is, instead of having to go out and scout and search for one, when they could have that list and they could know for almost certainty that THAT vehicle in the area.
And this photo ID thing is awesome. You'd have to KNOW the name of the person who's car you're stealing.
That story you posted, I'm betting that 99% of those cars were stock vehicles with the dealership placard stil on them, and they were not 96-00 Civics. I'm wiling to bet not a single one of them was a 9-13 year old Honda.
Read the story again, this s**t is elaborate. This is a ring of thieves targeting cars they KNOW will be at a certain place at a certain time, a zero-risk-factor. These are not people's cars at home or the office.