Hellcat stolen in Kansas City caught on camera, found missing engine, tires
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Stolen KIAs and Hyundais have captured lots of headlines, but according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Highway Loss Data Institute, Dodge Chargers and Challengers are the most stolen relative to number of cars on the road. With the Hellcat 60 times more likely than average to be stolen.
Smithville Dodge Challenger owner Bryan Webb wears the love for his favorite car on his sleeve, quite literally. Last month, his scat pack 392 shaker was stolen from a NW Barry Road restaurant in Kansas City.
“I come out to get into my car and I see nothing but broken glass, radar detector was cut. It was spotted first in the Claycomo Ford plant trying to steal another person’s Challenger. Their alarm went off and at that point they outran Claycomo PD with my vehicle,” Webb explained.
They’d later outrun Kansas City police after the vehicle was spotted near Troost doing donuts. But thieves returned to the same Ford parking lot a few days later.
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“Ever since my buddy bought one in 2015 that became my dream car, I put everything I could into the car,” David Christian said.
They took Christian’s 2016 712 Horsepower Dodge Challenger Hellcat and headed to Grand Avenue downtown on March 25.
FOX4 cameras capture the same vehicle doing donuts in the middle of the street. Christian immediately recognized his vehicle with custom mods and “Sinister” plate, as would dozens of others in the metro area following a post in the Facebook group Stolen KC.
“I’ve never seen any car go viral like mine has gone. It was all over everywhere,” Christian said.
He said he received almost hourly updates from people trying to follow the fast car.
“One guy was in a lawncare setup with a trailer trying to get through traffic trying to catch my car. He said ‘I just I couldn’t catch it dude, I’m sorry,’ I don’t even know this guy and he’s chasing down my car,” Christian explained.
Kansas City police deployed stop sticks 39 times successfully to stop cars at an illegal sideshow Sunday and towed 3 vehicles. That same night KCKPD towed five of their own according to a KCPD post on X.
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“These people are ruining the car community because most of the people who drive these cars don’t go and do that stuff,” Christians said.
But they didn’t get Christian’s Hellcat. He got a call from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Friday telling him it ended up in pieces and had been recovered on Kansas City’s east side.
With the cost to replace the engine alone worth up to $30,000 in some versions of the vehicles, Webb has to figure he’ll eventually get the same sad news.
“I work hard for my money and for this to happen has just put me in a huge depression,” Webb said.
