Thieves Clean Out NC Dealership Showroom

NC-Henderson-car-dealership-theft

By Steven Symes, Motorious
Published
April 26, 2023

Surveillance footage showed a group of several thieves break into a showroom in Henderson, NC, find the keys for several cars, and drive them out into the parking lot and into the night.

The incident happened April 16. Ultimately, they got away with a Chevy Camaro, Cadillac Escalade and Audi Q5. All three are expensive rides and the thieves likely knew that, which was why they looked for those specific keys.

For reasons not detailed in a local news report, the thieves abandoned the Escalade the next day in Matthews, NC, where police found it. The suspects are still on the loose and the other two cars haven’t been recovered.

There’s plenty of discussion about why car dealerships don’t take more drastic measures to secure keys at night. Considering they’ve become a favorite target of thieves in the past three years or so, it’s a fair question. Surely they’re losing a good chunk of money when these cars are stolen? Or is the insurance covering everything? But wouldn’t this widespread problem lead to higher insurance rates?

We have heard some dealerships have started moving keys off-site during the night, but this seems to not be a common practice. Of course, that opens a whole new risk of getting held up to the person who transports the keys, or where the keys are kept overnight becoming a target.

We thank Motorious for reprint permission.

Abby Andrews

Online & Web Content Editor
Abby Andrews is the editor of Autobody News.

Stay connected to the number one source of collision repair news!

Subscribe now to your region’s monthly magazine, in print and/or digital, and to receive our weekly e-newsletters, delivered directly to your inbox.

Website Rt Graphic Ep.51 Nancy Rolland 600x400 1.9.24

Shop & Product Showcase

  • Read testimonials from real collision repair shops about the tools and technologies they use to get the job done.