Texas car thief steals a pickup truck with a Polaris Buggy attached
Stealthy Texas car thief steals a pickup truck with a Polaris Buggy attached to its towing trailer worth a total $200k in just 19 SECONDS after sneaking into parking lot at night
- In a daring heist Monday, a thief managed to steal property worth around $200k from a downtown Dallas resident by sneaking into a public parking lot
- The victim, Adam Lewis, was left astonished as it took the thief a mere 19 seconds to drive away with his pickup truck towing a trailer and a Polaris buggy
- Lewis expressed admiration for the thief's skills, suggesting a potential opportunity to use those talents positively
A brazen Texas[2] car thief stole a pickup truck with a Polaris Buggy attached to its towing trailer within just 19 seconds, leaving the victim with a $200k loss.
In the daring heist Monday, a thief managed to steal property worth around $200k from a downtown Dallas resident by sneaking into a public parking lot at night.
The victim, Adam Lewis, was left astonished as it took the unidentified man a mere 19 seconds to drive away with his pickup truck towing a trailer and a Polaris buggy.
Returning home from a beach trip late on a Monday night, Lewis couldn't park his F-250 Limited in his apartment building's garage due to his attached 18-foot flatbed trailer carrying a 2021 Polaris NorthStar Edition, reported by NBC 5. [3]
Planning to get the buggy serviced the next day, he opted to pay for two parking spots in a nearby public lot to accommodate both the truck and trailer.
A brazen Texas car thief stole a pickup truck with a Polaris Buggy attached to its towing trailer within just 19 seconds, leaving the victim with a $200k loss
In the daring heist Monday, a thief managed to steal property worth around $200k from a downtown Dallas resident by sneaking into a public parking lot at night
However, Lewis was shocked to find it missing the following morning.
'There was no truck and no buggy,' he said to NBC 5. 'I was like: Ok, I called my guy [who manages the parking lot] and was like was this towed by accident?'
But after contacting the parking lot manager, it became clear that this was no accidental tow.
Dallas Police confirmed they are investigating the theft at the parking lot located on 800 Main Street. Lewis estimated the stolen property's worth at approximately $200k.
Although he filed an insurance claim, he was hoping someone could provide information about the identity of the thief.
The suspect's tow truck appeared to be blue, possibly a Dodge single-cab pickup with aftermarket rims.
'They started looking at footage and he talked to his security guard and said that a tow truck came into the lot,' he told NBC 5. '[The thief] backed up to my truck with my trailer and Polaris and he was out.'
'The TDLR number on the side, that was a fake because that's been ran,' he said. 'Bank of America was kind enough to run plates so I could turn that information over to the police.'
The victim, Adam Lewis, was left astonished as it took the unidentified man a mere 19 seconds to drive away with his pickup truck towing a trailer and a Polaris buggy
Returning home from a beach trip late on a Monday night, Lewis couldn't park his F-250 Limited in his apartment building's garage due to his attached 18-foot flatbed trailer carrying a 2021 Polaris NorthStar Edition, reported by NBC 5
Lewis even expressed admiration for the thief's skills, suggesting a potential opportunity to use those talents positively
The suspect's tow truck appeared to be blue, possibly a Dodge single-cab pickup with aftermarket rims
'It was just a shell,' said Lewis. 'No truck, no bed, no seats, no steering wheel, no engine.'
Despite the loss and the recovery of a stripped-down version of his truck, Lewis maintains perspective. He acknowledged the theft is a low priority for the police and said, 'It's just stuff.' He is thankful his children are safe.
'You feel just kind of pushed over in the mud, but at the end of the day you have to get over it. It's just stuff,' he said.
Lewis even expressed admiration for the thief's skills, suggesting a potential opportunity to use those talents positively.
'To take an F250, attached to an 18-foot trailer that has a 4-door buggy, thousands and thousands of pounds on it, that's impressive,' he told NBC 5.
'Let's use this effort and knowledge. I would probably find a position for you in my industry for you to utilize these passionate skills that you have acquired,' he added. Let's turn this around, let's make our own money so you don't have to steal.'
Just last month, thieves in San Francisco[4] were caught on camera cruising the streets in a Lexus before stopping at parked cars to smash the windows in and steal goods inside.
The brazen thefts were seen in footage obtained by local news station KTVU on Thursday afternoon.
Despite the loss and the recovery of a stripped-down version of his truck, Lewis maintains perspective. He acknowledged the theft is a low priority for the police and said, 'It's just stuff.' He is thankful his children are safe
Lt. Tracy McCray told The New York Post the smash-and-grab technique was known in the Bay Area as 'bipping and boosting'.
'It really exploded during the pandemic - so much so that someone told me that the sidewalks are glistening and sparkling [with glass from windows] where cars are broken into left and right,' she said.
San Francisco had nearly 1,670 car break-ins[5] in the past 30 days, according to the latest data tracked by the San Francisco Police Department.
There has been nearly 10,000 thefts from vehicles in the city so far this year.
Signs can be seen throughout the city warning residents and tourists not to leave anything inside their cars, but the crime rate has remained stubbornly high.
Tourist areas such as the North Beach, Japantown and Presidio have the highest rate of break-ins in cars per 10,000 residents.
Last year, McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Federation, fell victim to the crime herself.
Her car was parked on the 1200 block of Franklin Street, in between the Tenderloin and Japantown, on March 23, 2022, while she visited a relative at the CPMC Van Ness Campus hospital.
McCray said she was parked for less than 30 minutes, but still her car was broken into.
She wrote a blog post entitled: 'Hell - they got me, too!'
References
- ^ Noa Halff For Dailymail.Com (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Texas (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ NBC 5. (www.nbcdfw.com)
- ^ thieves in San Francisco (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ 1,670 car break-ins (www.dailymail.co.uk)