Car Thieves Hit Green Country Dealerships, Steal Seats

By Craig Day, The News On 6 

PRYOR, OK -- Police in Pryor hope you'll be able to help them find thieves ripping off car dealerships in Pryor and three other towns. Thieves aren't taking the cars; instead, they're swiping something valuable from inside them.

But the suspected thieves are caught on tape.

At Roberts Auto Center in Pryor, they'll make you a good deal on a new car. But thieves: they've given the dealership a raw deal, busting out the back glass of nine cars including Yukons, Denalis, Suburbans, Tahoes.

"I was angry," said Ken Spencer, Operations Manager. "Just mad, because of all the damage."

The thieves took the third row seats. And they haven't just hit once or even twice.

"But three times here in Pryor," Doug Barham, Pryor Police Department, said.

"Two or three time offenders, in my opinion don't need much second chance," Spencer said.

Investigators think the same guys also recently hit dealerships in Owasso, Claremore and Sapulpa.

"In 15 years I've never seen third row seats stolen out of vehicles," Barham said. "I didn't know there was such high demand for third row seats."

The suspect thieves were caught on surveillance video from Wednesday night. It's pretty good, but the thieves made a stupid mistake. They needed something to break the back windows, so they went to Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart has a lot of cameras.

"That's actually a break we were looking for," Barham said. "To actually get really good footage on them."

After buying a garden hoe, the thieves then returned to the dealership. It's a loss of $2,000 per vehicle, plus the cost of the damage. That gets expensive.

"Its people that are too lazy and just too lazy to work," Spencer said.

It's hoped with such good surveillance video, and help from the public, police can find the thieves, putting an end to the damage, the thefts, and the frustration.

"They're not going to stop at car lots, they're steal from your residence, they'll go to your business," Barham said. "They'll steal from you whichever way they can.

The thieves were in a black or dark blue 2003 to 2007 Chevy step-side pickup with a brush guard on the front.

Roberts Auto Center and Classic Chevrolet in Owasso are offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Pryor Police Department at 918-825-1212.