Cars Stolen From Showroom Recovered

Police return two vehicles to a Green Country dealership a day after they were stolen right out of the showroom.<br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Chris Wright has more on a bizarre burglary.<br/><br/>Police

Tuesday, December 19th 2006, 10:37 am

By: News On 6

Police return two vehicles to a Green Country dealership a day after they were stolen right out of the showroom.

News on 6 reporter Chris Wright has more on a bizarre burglary.

Police say nothing about this crime makes much sense; the Burglars stole the vehicles from the showroom at Sand Springs Ford, not the lot outside. Then they left both of them in plain sight at an apartment complex.

Besides being a little dirtier than the other cars on the lot, the Mustang GT and F-150 pickup look like any other new car at Sand Springs Ford. Police say that is surprising because both vehicles were stolen from the showroom.

"Did not take them to a chop shop, none of the parts are missing, doesn't look like they were damaged in any way, weren't raced or anything like that," Sand Springs Police Sgt. John Tillman said.

Sometime late Sunday night or early Monday morning, authorities say the thieves cut the lock on the fence behind the dealership, then forced their way into the building. Thieves found the keys to the F-150 and GT in a nearby office, started them up in the showroom, and then drove right through the doors.

But after putting all that effort into the heist, the burglars did not do anything with the vehicles. Both were found abandoned and unscathed on Monday in a North Tulsa apartment complex.

Police say leaving the cars out in the open was the thieves' second mistake.

"First the bad decision was to steal them to begin with, the other one was to put them where they were noticeable," Sgt. Tillman said.

Furthermore, the burglars didn't touch the third and most valuable car in the showroom, a Mustang GT Shelby, which is worth as much as $75,000.

All of this leads police to believe that the people responsible for the crime simply wanted some new rides for the holidays.

â€œI think somebody was trying to go Christmas shopping early and didn't make it that far," said Sgt. Tillman.

Sand Springs police say they have several persons of interest in the case, but have not made any arrests. If you have any information, you can give them a call at 245-8777.

The thieves also returned the vehicles with full tanks of gas, so authorities plan on checking surveillance video from local gas stations in hopes of catching the crooks filling up.