A group of Chicago teens were caught on surveillance cameras breaking into a luxury Wisconsin vehicle dealership and speeding away with over half a million dollars worth of cars, leading police on a 40-mile chase.
Waukesha police responded to the local Jaguar and Land Rover car dealership at around 9:00 a.m. on February 18 after a maintenance worker called to report “significant damage to an overhead service garage door, a department press release states.
Upon arrival, officers found that nine high-end vehicles had been stolen — eight belonging to the dealership, and one belonging to a customer.
“We believe this to be an organized crime group of teenagers from the Chicago area,” Waukesha Police Captain Dan Baumann said on the day of the crimes.
“As the nine vehicles were fleeing the scene, a vehicle pursuit ensued by another law enforcement agency,” he added, describing how police were able to arrest one teen and recover two of the vehicles by the time of the statement’s release.
The destroyed garage door was the result of the thieves breaking into a Land Rover Velar and using it as a “battering ram” to smash through and escape, a criminal complaint obtained by FOX6 states.
The dealership’s general manager provided the surveillance video of the incident to the outlet, showing approximately nine individuals donning gloves and masks getting out of a silver minivan around 6:00 a.m. and breaking into the building before prying open a lockbox full of car keys.
The group “then went about finding the vehicles associated with the keys throughout the dealership,” the complaint says.
The vehicles taken were a 2021 Land Rover Range Rover Westminster, a 2023 BMW X5 M50i, a 2021 Jaguar F Type R-Dynamic, a 2023 Range Rover Sport P440, a 2019 Porsche Macan, two 2024 Range Rover Velars, a 2024 Land Rover Discovery Dynamic, and a 2020 Land Rover Range Rover.
The total value of the stolen cars was $583,339, according to officials.
Calvin Valentine, 17, allegedly crashed the $73,998 Westminster in the West Allis area, leading to his arrest and the recovery of that vehicle.
Six of the nine stolen vehicles were recovered by the next day, with four of them being found in Chicago, WISN12 reported.
The remaining eight suspects are still on the run from law enforcement.
Valentine reportedly told investigators that he was picked up by another suspect in the early morning hours that Sunday in the Chicago area.
“The defendant stated that his friend gave him a key and he got in the white SUV that he crashed during the pursuit with West Allis. The defendant stated he was just ‘doing kid’s stuff,’” the complaint states.
Valentine also claimed that “he did not know what people would do with these cars.”
The teen has been hit with four criminal charges, including burglary and receiving stolen property. He is currently being held in the Waukesha County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
“You have to be unbelievably vigilant when business closes, that you account for all keys and make sure they are all in a secure lock box,” Jim Tolkan, president of the Auto Dealers Association of Mega Milwaukee, told FOX6.
“Having on-site security after closing, whether it be every night, make sure all the keys are locked in lock boxes. [The] cost involved is significantly less than what’s going to happen if you have seven, four, five, 10 vehicles stolen.”