Thieves with some high-end taste have been stealing some high-priced auto parts in the middle of the night. Expensive wheels have been disappearing from car dealerships on the Shoreline.
“They jacked up the car. They took four rims and tires and they took off, said Lt. James Perez of the Fairfield Police Department.
Investigators said car dealerships along Commerce Drive in Fairfield are getting hit again and again by some fast-acting suspects who use their own hydraulic jack to lift up expensive vehicles in order to snatch the cars' top-of-the-line tires and rims.
“They become really good at being able to remove a tire and a wheel in really seconds," said Lt. Perez.
These extra-speedy wheel thefts are happening overnight at a number of dealers. Audi got hit. Most recently it was Infiniti. Police said the tires taken are valued at up to $1,000 dollars each. The rims, they said, are worth up to $5,000 apiece.
“When we leave at night, we try to leave the place safe but you never know what's going to happen next," said Mauricio Sanchez, a manager at Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield, which is also on Commerce Drive. “They're going to get caught sooner or later and I hope it's soon," he said.
Fairfield police are adding patrols in the area. At this point, they have not identified where the wheels are ending up. No witnesses have come forward and so far the dealerships' surveillance cameras have not lead to any solid clues.
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“When it starts to become a pattern, which is what we are starting to see, then it becomes concerning," said Lt. Perez.
