Police are zeroing in on some Metro Detroit car dealerships after a string of thefts. The videos of the break-ins showed the suspects knowing what they were doing and how to do it.
Cars from many dealerships at Bob Maxey Ford in Detroit have windows boarded up after the thieves hit there on Thursday (Feb. 16), and it isn’t just taking a vehicle from the dealer lot as thieves are descending onto the dealership and taking vehicles four and five at a time.
The security cameras caught it all as the thieves slammed a stolen vehicle into a back garage door, and just like the movie, they’re “Gone in 60 seconds.”
They find the key fobs, jump in the vehicles, can start, zip out of the service bay, and then drive through the garage door. After the first vehicle gets through, the others of similar size escape without damage.
“It makes me very angry,” said owner Bob Maxey.
Maxey, with two Detroit dealerships, is living in disbelief.
“In two weeks, we’ve had 13 vehicles stolen, and this is going on throughout the whole state,” said Maxey.
More oversized vehicles like this F-350 truck hit the door and got damaged, which doesn’t deter the buyers. That truck was found Thursday in the back of a Toledo car lot, with a broken windshield and other scrapes and bruises apparent.
“It looks like it’s an adult who’s directing juveniles because if they arrest the juveniles, they can be let out right away,” Maxey said.
And they’re not picky, thieves even stole and wrecked a marked Maxey Service Vehicle in the process.
The same group hit Maxey’s used car lot Thursday and smashed a window with a brick. They couldn’t get to the fobs immediately but eventually did, using a stolen vehicle to push the one in front of the gate out.
“I can’t keep making these insurance claims because I won’t be able to get insurance, and if I don’t have insurance, how do I stay in business,” Maxey said.
Detroit police say they’re close to suspects in the matter and other similar thefts across the city.
To give you an idea of what this does to customer relations with Bob Maxey, one Fod Bronco that was stolen and used in a theft was supposed to go to a customer who waited eight months for his vehicle because of the chip shortage.
He is still without it as it is in the body shop lot, waiting to replace the hood and other parts. They say they’re thankful they were able to recover it.
