They are organized, bold and big in numbers. Surveillance video shows a band of brazen car thieves hitting an East Bay used car dealership. Now their attacks have shifted into high gear.
C.J. Chehab installed surveillance cameras after he says the thieves hit his business called The Dealer back in January.
His was the first dealership to get hit. "They took seven keys and took four cars." he said, adding that 12 to 13 young people were spotted in the video.
Since then, some 20 cars from a half dozen Fremont car dealerships have been stolen.
Most recently, Several suspects stole six cars Friday morning from three used car dealerships in Fremont, police said.
Sgt. Frank Tarango said officers first received an alert from a triggered alarm at 1:50 a.m. at Phantom Motors, located at 3917 Thornton Ave.
Officers were on scene within four minutes, with a police dog unit arriving a couple minutes after that, Tarango said.
The officers found the gates to the dealership had been tampered with but Tarango said no suspects were located on site.
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Later in the morning, when the owner was able to respond to police, officers determined two vehicles had been taken from the dealership's lot.
Tarango said officers also discovered one car had been taken from No Credit Check Auto Sales Inc., which is adjacent to Phantom Motors on Thornton Avenue.
Tarango said sometime after the alarm call from Phantom Motors, a witness called police to report seeing several cars leave H&R Automotive, located at 4300 Decoto Road, roughly 2 miles away from Phantom Motors and No Credit Check Auto.
Police later determined that sometime between 7 p.m. on Thursday and 2:37 a.m. on Friday, suspects stole three cars from H&R Automotive.
Tarango said the witness reported seeing a silver-colored car similar to a Chevy Malibu with approximately five people inside, which Tarango said may be related to the suspects in this case.
The people were wearing black or gray hooded sweatshirts, Tarango said.
New video of car thieves stealing car & he appears 2 need driving http://t.co/kEjRCWt1Mr info on Fremont car thefts pic.twitter.com/Y3H0r2yEpA — Jodi Hernandez (@JodiHernandez01) March 10, 2015
