Thieves Steal Almost $1 Million In Luxury Cars After Dealership Heist
An Illinois car dealership has suffered a major loss after thieves made away with nearly $1 million in luxury cars.
According to NBC Chicago, the heist took place earlier this week in Evanston, Illinois between the hours of 2-8a.m. at Autobarn Collection located on the 1900 block of Greenwood Street. In total, the thieves managed to steal 14 luxury vehicles.
As per Fox News, the stolen vehicles included “four Mercedes, three Audis, two Porsches, a BMW, a Dodge Durango, a Bentley GTC, a Maserati Levante, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.”
Security camera footage shows that the thieves gained entry into the dealership by breaking a window with a crowbar. Once inside, they were able to disable the security system. The robbers then found and broke into the car key lockbox, allowing them to steal most of the cars in the showroom.
As of now, the authorities reportedly don’t have any leads. But given the brazen nature of the heist, they feel confident that they’ll soon have more clarity on who committed the crime.
“Area police departments have been notified of some of the vehicles that were taken,” Commander Ryan Glew of Evanston PD told the media. “Some of the vehicles were pretty unique, so they should be easy to spot.”
The total worth of the cars stolen is said to be close to $1 million. Even though the dealership had insurance, they may still out over $100,000.
As Fox News notes, Evanston is only 14 miles north of downtown Chicago, which has seen a rise in auto crimes in recent years. In the last year, car theft has risen by 43% in the area, with 2,315 cars stolen so far this year compared to the 1,615 taken in 2021.
Luxury car dealerships have been having a bad month, as we reported earlier in March that a reported $335 million in designer cars were lost at sea after a cargo ship sunk in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal.
After a fire started on the ship and couldn’t be contained, all of the crew had to be evacuated, though there were luckily no injuries. The cause of the fire is still undetermined, but it’s suspected that a lithium battery in one of the electric cars caught fire and cause the blaze.
Over 4,000 boats were on the cargo ship, known as Felicity Ann, including a variety of luxury models from brands like Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Volkswagen. One of the priciest models on board included Lamborghini’s Aventador, which his worth a reported $400,000.
Sources: NBC Chicago, Fox News,
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