Thieves take 8 wheels off vehicles at Ypsilanti car dealership
Thieves swiped eight wheels from two Ford Explorers at the Gene Butman Ford dealership in Ypsilanti Monday night or early Tuesday morning and likely would have stolen more had they not been interrupted, the business's service director said.
Gene Butman Ford in Ypsilanti.
From Facebook
"These guys were on their third and fourth vehicle," Butman said.
Butman said either police on patrol or the dealership's security guard happened upon the thieves while they were in the parking lot, causing them to flee.
Police were not able to catch the suspects, but Sgt. Brent Yuchasz of the Ypsilanti Police Department said seven of the rims were found in a rental van parked at an apartment complex in Ypsilanti.
Yuchasz said police are looking into who rented the van.
The dealership has surveillance cameras, but Butman said the cameras are near the main lot, too far from the overflow lot to provide any useful information. It's not clear how many people were involved.
Butman said thefts like this are common at car dealerships, because wheels have become so expensive. He said the single wheel that wasn't recovered costs approximately $785.
"It's very disappointing to say that this is something that is common," he said. No estimate of the damage to the vehicles was available. Butman said the cost of the wheel will be reimbursed by the dealership's insurance company.
Comments
arborani
Thu, Feb 14, 2013 : 3:44 p.m.
Have to give props to dading, since I have long been a fan of "drownded."
arborani
Thu, Feb 14, 2013 : 3:46 p.m.
Oops - that comment doesn't belong there. Sorry.
realist
Thu, Feb 14, 2013 : 5:53 a.m.
Section 8, bridge card and cash assistance...still not enough! Gots to have dem rims....
tmc
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 9:27 p.m.
Your mapped location is off by a country mile, or two, or three. The Dealership is in Ypsilanti, not Ann Arbor.
Ann English
Mon, Feb 18, 2013 : 3:08 a.m.
You're right. I looked in vain for Hewitt Road on that map. Gene Butman Ford is accessible via Hewitt, Washtenaw and Rosedale. You'd think this is a dealership that would be easier to locate on a map, since it's accessible from THREE roads.
dading dont delete me bro
Thu, Feb 14, 2013 : 11:46 a.m.
i think the staff is geographically challenged.
JRW
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 7:54 p.m.
"Police were not able to catch the suspects, but Sgt. Brent Yuchasz of the Ypsilanti Police Department said seven of the rims were found in a rental van parked at an apartment complex in Ypsilanti." Which complex?
JRW
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 7:53 p.m.
And we wonder why our insurance rates keep climbing and climbing.....
Solitude
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 7:19 p.m.
How YPD continues to solve the number of crimes they do and recover the amount of stolen property they do, as ridiculously short-staffed as they are, is amazing. Nice job YPD.
Megan Turf
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 6:15 p.m.
Thieves are jerks. If put half as much energy into being decent citizens as they do working on their next heist, the world would be a better place.
UpperDecker
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 5:41 p.m.
I used to see them leave a handful of cars on jacks and just take the tires, leaving the jacks as the cost of doing business. I always figured that police should find out who just bought 10 jacks in the area and that might help track them down.
TheDiagSquirrel
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 4:37 p.m.
Did someone steal the proofreader for this article? Yikes
arborani
Thu, Feb 14, 2013 : 3:45 p.m.
Props to dading - I have long been a fan of "drownded."
YpsiLivin
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 9:38 p.m.
dading dont delete me bro. Seriously? It's "stealed." :)
dading dont delete me bro
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 9:05 p.m.
i personally like, "stoleded"
arborani
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 8:39 p.m.
My problem is with the word "swiped" - an unnecessarily trashy word to use in reporting news. Why not "stole"? "Swiped" is right up (or down) there with "snuck" for "sneaked." Yikes indeed.
dading dont delete me bro
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 4 p.m.
nice advertising... "...the cameras are near the main lot, too far from the overflow lot to provide any useful information."
YpsiLivin
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 4:58 p.m.
"... based on their lack of adequate security." Unlikely. That's exactly what insurance is for. Given that the lot is lit, they have a regular security patrol that probably interrupted the theft and the police recovered most of the stolen items, the insurance claim will be honored no questions asked.
Billy
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 4:09 p.m.
Me thinks that's going to be fixed now. There's really no excuse for not adding the couple more cameras it would take to provide complete coverage. I wouldn't be surprised if their insurance company contests the claim just based on their lack of adequate security.