SALEM Ore. (KPTV) – New details continue to emerge surrounding a major car theft ring that stretched from California to Washington over the past year.
Professional thieves used sophisticated technology, including high-tech devices and armed assault to steal more than 20 total muscle cars and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.
BMW of Salem General Manager, Jon Taylor, is among those whose dealership was robbed. In this specific instance, a Dodge Hellcat, without the assailants ever taking the keys to open the vehicle.
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“I’ve had all of this happen before but never a car that you still have all the keys to,” Taylor said. “I have no vin labels on the car, I have to replace the windshield, I’ll have to spend thousands to fix it and when I do sell it, I’ll have to disclose it was a theft.”
Fox 12 spoke with several victims involved in this ring and we know Taylor is far from alone. We also have learned through this investigation that this auto theft ringleader, Aric Adams Jr. of Central Point, had plenty of help going up and down the Pacific Coast to monitor and steal these expensive vehicles.
During this four-month investigation by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office with help from Multnomah and Washington County, detectives were able to tie five suspects, Christopher Bensch, Miguel Gonzalez, Luke Tangocci, Tyler Lautenslager and one minor to several charges such as possession of a stolen vehicle, trafficking stolen property and illegal possession of a firearm among other serious arrestable offenses.
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“One car leads to another car, leads to a person, leads to another person,” CCSO Detective Chris Skidmore said. “They’re looking for this kind of stuff, we have detectives, this is the kind of stuff, high end robbery, theft and they’re going to find those kinds of people.”
During this specific piece of a growing operation, the tactical detective unit (TDU) recovered 11 cars totaling $700,000 along with $42,000 in cash and nine firearms. All parts of key evidence law enforcement and car dealers alike hope will put these criminals away for good as they combat this new age in auto theft.
“If you don’t have video get it, we’re using robots to patrol our lot, and it seems to be helping, go back to basics, common sense,” Taylor said.
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