Over $1 million in inventory taken from Arab car dealership, police still looking for vehicles
ARAB, Ala. (WHNT) — An Arab car dealership is out more than a million dollars after an overnight burglary, and the investigation continues as police and the FBI work to locate six missing luxury vehicles.
News 19 spoke to the owner of the North Country Ford dealership, General Manager Greg Anthony, and he says that it’s been quite a process getting things back up and running.
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The eight cars and trucks stolen from this dealership were high-end, luxury vehicles. One of them, a 2023 Dodge Challenger Demon, has an estimated value upwards of $150,000. Two of those vehicles have been recovered, but six are still missing.
Not only did the group drive eight vehicles off the lot, but they also stole more than 300 keys. Technicians and locksmiths are still working to replace and re-program the keys belonging to all these vehicles.
The break-in happened just after midnight on Sunday, according to Arab police. The thieves threw a rock through a window in the dealership’s service bay. Once inside, police say they turned off and wiped several hours worth of surveillance video.
Anthony told News 19 they then plugged a computer into the dealership’s key safe, unlocked it, and took all the keys.
When police were notified the next morning of the break-in, they found several trucks and cars missing.
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The 2023 Dodge Challenger Demon mentioned earlier had been driven out of the lobby through a bay door. Anthony said once they were done inside, the thieves locked the doors back and the burglary wasn’t discovered until the next morning by a cleaning crew.
“It’s just a loss of income of being able to sell these cars, especially the limited production cars and you can take every measure you can, but a thief is a thief,” Anthony said. “They’re going to get a car regardless of what you do. Any measure you put in place they’re going to overcome them, just like our camera system and our key security system. Even cars inside the dealership. They’re brave, they don’t care. They’ll come inside and take anything they want of value.”
Arab Police Chief Shane Washburn says his department is working to identify who committed this crime.
“It seems like it was very organized and sophisticated. I believe these guys, it’s not the first time they’ve had a burglary of this nature, so I think we had some people like I said, some professional criminals,” Washburn said.
The dealership estimates this crime resulted in a loss of about $1.2 million. Chief Washburn says this burglary looks a lot like several others that have recently taken place across the region, and his department has brought the FBI into their investigation.
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