Exclusive: Video shows thieves steal safe, high-end cars from New Jersey dealership

Toni Yates Image
Friday, June 11, 2021
Exclusive: Video shows thieves steal safe, high-end cars from dealership
The owner of a car dealership in New Jersey says he is stepping up security after thieves targeted his business twice in the last month.

IRVINGTON, New Jersey (WABC) -- The owner of a car dealership in New Jersey says he is stepping up security after thieves targeted his business twice in the last month.

Video, obtained exclusively by Eyewitness News, from before dawn on May 17, shows a gang of thieves coming down the sidewalk next to the Executive Auto Group car lot on Chancellor Avenue in Irvington.

In the video they can be seen breaking a lock on the gate and then breaking into the office trailer.

Once inside, they crack the case holding the keys to the entire car inventory.

They then click the key fobs to match each set to each car and then they drive eight high-end luxury vehicles right off the lot, even crashing one on the way out.

"It took them five hours to rob eight cars, nobody sees nothing. Five hours to rob eight cars," the owner of the dealership, Frank Othman, said.

After that crime, Irvington police parked one of its units outside the lot as a deterrent, but that failed to deter them as early Friday morning the lot was hit again.

This time the video shows one man jumping the gate and then cutting the lock from the inside.

They again break into the office trailer, but after the first thefts, Othman now takes all of the keys home every day.

So instead they turn their attention to a safe, one of them hoisting it up over his head and walking away with it.

"They walk out with a safe. How do they walk out with a safe? I don't understand, nobody sees nothing," Othman said. "First time was $150,000, now here you could say about another $25,000."

ALSO READ | Boaters come dangerously close to tipping over dam

It was an ordeal that played out with just tweets from officials, but made real when they posted a photo and video of the vessel and its bow with nothing under it.

----------

* Get Eyewitness News Delivered

* More New Jersey news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a News Tip

Copyright © 2024 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.