The Eyewitness National Crime Alert for November 13, 2017
These incidents were reported across the country from 11.6.17 to 11.12.17
Oklahoma City, OK — Reported 11.6.17
Have You Seen These Men?
Police recently released these still photos taken from surveillance footage of an auto theft crime scene at a local OKC dealership. If you know these individuals — last seen at a “southwest metro dealership on October 27,” according to local media — please contact the local police department. They are wanted “in reference to [an] auto theft case,” per the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Facebook page. (Original article)
Green Bay, WI — Reported 11.6.17
Van Used by Tire Thieves Recovered, $60K in Inventory Still Missing
Police recovered a stolen van in Milwaukee last week, taken from a dealership in Bellevue that also lost 40 sets of tires, rims, and wheels from lot vehicles. Authorities believe thieves took the van to haul away their stolen booty.
According to reports, the van’s driver side window was broken — probably to grab a lock box with the van’s keys — but sustained no other damage.
Other than this van’s recovery, authorities have published no further leads in the tire theft investigation, which cost the dealership between $60,000 and $72,000 in lost inventory alone. Anyone with information should call the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at 920–448–4230. Information leading to an arrest may win you a $2,500 reward, offered by the dealership. (Original article)
Kansas City, MO — Reported 11.6.17
Two Thieves + 40 Minutes — Active Surveillance = $3,500 in Missing Tires
A passive CCTV system could do no more than record as two thieves stole tires from prized Jeeps and other vehicles at a local dealership car lot.
Employees discovered the theft on coming to work early Sunday morning. The dealership owner immediately reviewed security footage, which shows the thieves hiding behind lot cars every time a bystander vehicle passed. They took only tires, propping lot vehicles up using rocks and spare tires. While it took quite a while in the rainstorm last weekend, they still got away clean with their ill-gotten gains.
Anyone with information should please call the Gladstone Police Department. (Original article)
Salina, KS –11.6.17
“Man Bun” Clinches Arrest of Key Grab Thief
Back on 11.3.17, a young man test drove a 2011 Ford Mustang. After the test drive, the salesperson left the “customer” while retrieving a business card. While the employee was distracted, the young man swiped the keys from a desk and stole the $20,000 Mustang.
Police later found the reported-stolen vehicle abandoned that evening with a potentially broken axle. An eyewitness said he saw a male with “a man bun” leave the car, which police say matched the description given by the salesperson of the key thief. The next day, the responding officer saw a young man with the same described hairstyle walking down the street.
Thanks to the eyewitness descriptions and the matching hairstyle — as well as the thief’s stupidity in giving his real name to the salesperson — police arrested the lackluster car thief. (Original article)
Yakima, WA — Reported 11.7.17
Dealership Owner Left Wondering Why With $25K Repair Bill
A burglar struck two local dealerships in a small town, stealing every single key and vandalizing the businesses. He then tried to burn down one of the dealerships, but police caught him.
For one dealership owner, the catch isn’t enough — he wants to know why the burglar committed these acts. “We’re upset, we feel vengeful, we’re mad, and we don’t have the money to pay for stuff like this,” he told local reporters.
In all, the owner has spent $25,000 in repairs and still isn’t done cleaning up this burglar’s mess. (Original article)
Allentown, PA — Reported 11.8.17
Thief Destroys Dealership Window, Slices Skin
When police arrested an alleged car thief, the report claims he was “covered in cuts and blood” from the smashed window he broke with a hammer at the victim dealership. Spots of blood speckled the dealership’s walls and floors, apparently from the bald man in an orange shirt surveillance footage recorded breaking the window glass.
Police were called to take care of a vehicle “striking the curb and trying to leave the area” around a local Turkey Hill. There, they found the driver covered in blood, along with the blood-covered orange shirt seen on the CCTV and “blood-soaked jeans”. The thief waits for his preliminary hearing in jail, having failed to post bond. (Original article)
Litchfield, NE — 11.8.17
Test Drive Thief Foiled by Xerox
On 11.7.17, a “customer” took a test drive of a 2004 Nissan Maxima… and never came back to the dealership.
Luckily, the dealership’s salespeople had made a copy of the test drive thief’s license. This helped police identify the driver they pulled over in the stolen vehicle the next day — still with dealer plates — as the man who failed to return to the dealership. (Original article)
Plymouth, WI — Reported 11.9.17
Have You Seen $50K Worth of Tires?
On 11.4.17, Plymouth police investigated a tire and rim theft from a local dealership that resulted in more than $50,000 in missing inventory. Anyone with information should please contact the local Crime Stoppers at 1–877–283–8436 for a possible $1,000 reward. (Original article)
Houston, TX — 11.9.17
“What took me 30 years to build, they took in one night”
A local auto body shop is missing $14,000 in equipment and tools after four burglars cleaned out his service area. Surveillance footage recorded the men loitering about for nearly two whole hours, since they cut the power for outside lights but not indoor appliances.
The shop owner’s passed out flyers with the men’s images, hoping someone will offer a tip in exchange for a $500 reward. “We cannot stay in business with this kind of behavior,” he told local reporters. (Original article)
Oklahoma City, OK — 11.10.17
(Adult) Truck Thief Posts to Facebook During High Speed Chase.
Local media followed a high speed chase in Oklahoma City last week as police pursued a truck thief across backroads and through farmland.
At one point, the truck thief actually livestreamed the pursuit to his personal Facebook page, scolding another driver to say, “Can’t you see I’m in a high speed chase?”
Eventually, police managed to corner the driver at a pond. He left the vehicle to escape, but an officer tased him. The thief currently resides in custody.
While we’re not sure from where the man stole the truck, we couldn’t pass up this remarkable glimpse of a criminal narcissist. (Original article)
Duluth, GA — Reported 11.12.17
Local Dealership Latest to Lose $400K in 12 Vehicles
Between 3 and 6 AM last Sunday morning, “several suspects” broke into a Duluth dealership to steal keys from “a broken lock box,” according to local news reports. The crooks then took 12 cars in all from the dealership, worth more than $400,000 in all. Police aren’t sure if they were driven away or used a trailer of some sort.
This incident is just the latest in a string of high-value car thefts in the Atlanta area of late.
Another local dealership had eight high-end trucks taken from its lot last week, after a group of criminals used a blowtorch to cut through the lot’s “super heavy steel gate.” According to the dealership owner, one of the gang must have been a “professional,” since “quarter inch plate steel is not easy to cut through. They came prepared,” the owner added to local reporters.
Add this incident to one that happened on 10.3.17, during which three Jeeps were stolen from yet another local dealership. Three suspects — “black males in their early 20s” — held employees at gunpoint to steal the three vehicles, with one high-speed chase initiated by pursuing police. One car was recovered, totaled, at the conclusion of the chase; two others were found in Atlanta the next day.
If you recognize the men pictured above, please contact the Gwinnett County Police at 770–513–5300. A $2,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest. (Original article)
Originally published at Eyewitness Surveillance.
