Video shows thieves speed off in sports cars from Michigan dealership
A group of suspected car thieves sped away from a Michigan dealership in rare sports vehicles, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended with the arrest of a 19-year-old Detroit woman.
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — A group of suspected car thieves sped away from a Michigan dealership in rare sports vehicles, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended with the arrest of a 19-year-old Detroit woman.
Jordan Baker, the owner of Comodo Motors in Caledonia Township, said he was asleep when he got an automated alert from a motion camera at 1:39 a.m. After receiving a follow-up call from his security company and checking his surveillance footage, Baker jumped out of bed.
Surveillance video from Comodo Motors:
"I immediately call 911. Luckily, I live close so I could get here or maybe follow, somehow stop what they're here for," Baker recalled.
Once he arrived at the dealership, he decided to watch from afar, across the street, to wait for law enforcement.
The suspects arrived in three vehicles with fake license plates, two of which Baker said were stolen from a Ziegler dealership. Baker told deputies he saw multiple suspects stealing cars on live surveillance video.
“Imagine being across the street and watching five people break into your house and steal your most prized possessions,” said Baker. “Thank goodness that the men and women in blue were there for us when we needed them. That's their job. They jumped in and got in harm’s way.”
When deputies arrived, five vehicles were seen leaving the dealership. Three were confirmed stolen from Comodo: 2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye with a wide body in B5 Blue (one of 148 cars produced that year in B5 Blue), a black 2019 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 and a black 2021 Dodge Ram 1500 TRX. A black Dodge Challenger and a white Jeep were also presumed stolen, according to a news release.
The vehicles drove away, heading northbound toward the M-6 freeway. At one point, deputies deployed stop sticks and partially disabled the blue Challenger. The car continued then stopped near M-6 and I-96, where a suspect got out and entered the white Jeep, according to the Kent County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office said the incident has all the hallmarks of an organized car theft group that came to West Michigan to target specialty, rare cars.
“The way they were driving, the way they were communicating, the way they were able to leapfrog ahead of each other to slow our deputies down by blocking that they had done this before,” explained Kent County Undersheriff Bryan Muir.
He said the time of the crime played a role in the extended chase.
“All the factors have to align for us to continue this pursuit. It happened to be very early in the morning, very little vehicle traffic in the roadways which allowed for our deputies to continue the pursuit for an extended period of time, so we radioed ahead to those law enforcement partners of our to the east and they were able to assist,” Muir added.
The chase, which exceeded speeds of 100 mph, went into Ionia County, where deputies lost sight of the white Jeep and black Corvette. However, a 19-year-old Detroit woman was arrested and the black Dodge Ram was found in the Lansing area, the sheriff’s office said. Her name was not released.
The Challenger, Ram 1500 and Corvette were all recovered. The Corvette was found abandoned in a ditch in Livington County in southeastern Michigan, 113 miles away, deputies say.
Baker said it may take weeks to repair the damages at the dealership and will likely cost thousands of dollars to replace their doors and gates. Plus, the VIN numbers of the vehicles involved will forever carry the mark of "recovered stolen."
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