Eight cars, including a rare 2023 Dodge Challenger Demon SRT 170 valued at $158,000, were stolen from the North County Ford dealership in Arab, Alabama, and investigators are still trying to piece the whole thing together. AL.com news reports that two of the vehicles—a Jeep Wagoneer and Ford Bronco Raptor—have since been recovered. The Wagoneer was found near Blountsville and the Bronco Raptor was found at an apartment complex in Bessemer.
While they aren’t Fort Knox, generally speaking car dealerships have very robust security measures in place. It’s not uncommon for a large dealership like North County Ford to have millions of dollars in inventory on its lot at any given time, so major security measures are a must. With that being said, how did these criminals manage to get past North County Ford’s extensive camera system, alarms, and the individual alarms of each vehicle they stole? Well, it all started with a rock.
According to the report, at 12:28 am on April 9, the thieves used a rock to break a window in the service bay to enter the main building. Once inside, they found the security camera hub, turned off all the cameras and erased several hours of footage.
The dealership said the thieves plugged a laptop into the key safe and managed to hack it open like a scene out of a ’90s heist film. They stole 330 keys from the safe and put them all in a bag. Since many modern cars use keyless entry and have push button start, the thieves simply jumped into different cars with the key bag in hand, started each of the eight cars, and drove them off the lot.
The only physical evidence left behind was broken glass from the window found by the cleaning crew in the later morning hours.
North County Dodge is now going through the tedious task of reprogramming replacements for all the keys that were stolen but have taken to Facebook to appeal to the thieves for their return. Offering a $10,000 reward for the return of the keys “no questions asked.”
Local police and the FBI are on the case and hunting for the thieves and the remaining six vehicles, including the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170. If the Nicolas Cage film Gone in 60 Seconds has taught us anything, it’s that the police should be checking shipping docks or a wrecking yard and looking for a well-dressed crime lord with an unplaceable accent.
Jokes aside, anyone with information that could help law enforcement find the thieves or the missing vehicles is being asked to contact Arab police at (256) 586-8124.
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