DETROIT – A trio of thieves targeting a Detroit car dealership crashed their truck into a pole, made a ton of noise getting through the gate, got into an argument, and lost a man and a gun from their truck while trying to get away.
The break-in happened around 5 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, at Giovanni’s Auto Sales on Tireman Avenue in Detroit.
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“My phone started blowing up,” owner Kola Gjonaj said.
Gjonaj has sold deeply affordable cars on that corner for 37 years. But on Thursday, three men broke into his business.
It wasn’t your average break-in, though. Every moment was caught on security camera. Let’s walk you through it.
Loud entry
The men pulled up in a white pickup truck, and things immediately went wrong, as they backed into a cement pole outside the gates.
Next, one man pulled out a sawzall and took several long, loud minutes cutting through the iron gate.
There are several night watchmen on duty at the business, and they said the sound of the saw was so loud that they thought the men were sawing into the actual building itself.
They called Detroit police and Gjonaj.
Gjonaj said he told his guards never to engage because it wouldn’t be worth it to have a guard -- or even a thief -- get hurt.
What happened in lot
Once inside, the men “thought they owned the place,” Gjonaj said.
One man took the saw, got under a Jeep SUV, and cut off the catalytic converter.
There are more than 150 vehicles in the lot, and it looked like the men were set on cutting off each and every converter to sell them for scrap. Some scrap yards will pay $200 for each, due to the platinum it contains.
But then, security cameras show the men getting into an argument. That’s when a guard opened the office door and shouted, “What are you doing?”
Getaway issues
The men panicked and jumped into the truck. But when they tried to speed off, one of the trio fell out and nearly got run over.
It doesn’t end there. One of them dropped a gun in the middle of the street, so the Jeep returned moments later to pick it up.
Investigation ongoing
Gjonaj said four Detroit police officers went to the business to watch the surveillance video. They watched the video multiple times to digest all of the crew’s struggles, Gjonaj said.
Gjonaj told Local 4‘s Shawn Ley that while it might seem funny at points, he didn’t want to see anyone get hurt, referring to the man who fell out of the truck.
“I’ve been here for a long time,” Gjonaj said. “I would have given those guys jobs. They don’t have to do this.”
All three men are still at large.
You can watch the video and catch Shawn’s full story on Local 4 News at 5 p.m.
