Freewheeling lock apparatus and method

A wide variety of keyed locks or locking mechanisms exist for preventing unauthorized or unwanted entry and/or use of various items and devices including without limitation vehicles, houses, drawers, doors, and the like. While conventional keyed locks and locking mechanisms are generally effective in preventing such unwanted entry and/or use, certain tools and methods have been devised to defeat or overcome the effectiveness of keyed locks in order to forcefully gain entry to and/or use of the locked item. In some embodiments of the present invention, a freewheeling lock assembly is provided that includes a housing at least partially defining a cavity and having a central axis, an actuator rotatably coupled to the housing and substantially axially fixed with respect to the housing, a lock cylinder received within the cavity, having a locked configuration and an unlocked configuration, and rotatable with respect to the housing in both the locked and unlocked configurations, and a clutch having a sleeve and a disk that are received by the cavity and that selectively couple the lock cylinder and the actuator for rotation together in response to rotation of the lock cylinder in one of the locked and unlocked configurations. In some embodiments, the lock cylinder remains substantially axially stationary with respect to the housing when rotated.