DE SOTO, Mo. — Auto thefts at several dealerships have gotten the attention of multiple law enforcement agencies throughout southeast Missouri.
On Thursday, just before 4 a.m., there was a report of a break-in at Century Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM on Veterans Memorial Parkway in Wentzville. Police said six or seven people were seen on surveillance video and five vehicles were taken.
Joe Pettus, who owns multiple dealerships in the area, has dealt with something similar on two occasions this month.
Screen captures showed thieves with hoodies and masks breaking into his dealership on Highway 21 in Desoto at around 4 a.m. on June 13.
Pettus told 5 On Your Side the thieves broke into their key machine with a crowbar and a hammer, ran outside, unlocked the cars, and had mounds of keys.
"It aggravates me. You feel violated. It's extremely stressful and obviously very expensive," Pettus said.
Earlier this month, Pettus Automotive got hit again at their location in Leadington through a similar operation but the thieves did not get away with anything.
Pettus noted the thieves were mainly after the high-performance cars with high horsepower.
“Your challenger SRTs, your Hellcats, 392s, same thing with the Charger, same thing with the Durango or even a Grand Cherokee,” he said.
The owner said he caught one of his vehicles on social media at an illegal drag racing event doing donuts where the thieves damage the cars and then dump them.
"They wrecked three of them. Two of them before they got out of the parking and rolled one not even 30 feet away from us. Not exactly experienced drivers right so you can imagine what they're doing at high speed. Somebody's going to get hurt," Pettus said.
The business plans to increase security measures across all of its properties and urged fellow dealerships to do the same.
He also mentioned that many of the cars that are stolen are specially ordered vehicles that have already taken a long time to deliver due to shortages and delays caused by the pandemic.
The incidents are under investigation through both Desoto and Farmington as well as the Auto Theft Task Force in St. Louis.
Anyone with any information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS.