Thief uses crane to steal Jeep

[rickaren]

Thief uses crane to lift, steal Jeep from LaPorte car lot

Oct. 19, 2011

LAPORTE, Ind. — A thief literally lifted a Jeep Wrangler from a Northern Indiana car lot by using a crane to make the heist.

A surveillance camera at LaPorte Chrysler captured someone driving a truck with a crane onto the lot, then circling around to park next to the 2008 Wrangler before hooking it with the crane and loading it onto a trailer.

Dealership owner Matt Magnuson tells WSBT-TV that it is the craziest idea he’s heard of for stealing a vehicle.

While the thief finished his work before dawn Sunday in about six minutes, Magnuson says he’s confident police will catch the thief since he parked so close to a surveillance camera. He says he thinks the thief’s truck was designed for logging or railroad work.

SOURCE

[dhh3]

IMHO, this story would be much more believable if he had stolen a Nitro!

[rickaren]

Originally Posted by dhh3

IMHO, this story would be much more believable if he had stolen a Nitro!

You can't pick-up a Nitro with a crane! You sure could not pick up one with the luggage rack, they fall off anyway, and we have no roll-bar. Besides a Nitro weights more than a Wrangler, I suspect. Hope to post the video here in the future.

[RobertCena]

As we know, Dodge is a leading automotive company,which manufactures lots of trucks, crane is the one type of Dodge- nitro trucks which is designed such a way that every one will get attracted, it good features like project shaped head light it has high back lift,crane is that truck which can lift heavy things. Generally nitro trucks are very nice trucks.

[rickaren]

Resourceful thief lifts Jeep from dealer using crane
Security camera screen capture

Oct 20th 2011




A car thief in La Porte, Indiana recently put his own spin on the old smash-and-grab routine. The enterprising individual drove a flatbed truck that would typically be used for logging onto a car lot after hours on Sunday, October 16. Our man hopped out and used a giant crane to hook a 2008 Jeep Wrangler through the roof and drop it onto the bed. The whole operation took less than six minutes, though the crime's brevity didn't stop police from tracking down a suspect fairly quickly. Officials arrested a suspect in connection with the theft on Wednesday, October 19.

The Wrangler had a snow plow attached, and Matt Magnuson, general manager at La Porte Chrysler, said that the vehicle had sold that Saturday for $25,000. Magnuson also said that in all of his years selling vehicles, he had never seen anything quite like the stunt pulled off on his lot. Hit the jump to check out the video of the theft for yourself.

LINK TO VIDEO