Officials at the Coughlin Chrysler Marysville car dealership, 15777 Watkins Road, clean up and work to keep cars out of the glass spread in the parking lot after a theft this morning. The thieves drove the stolen vehicles out the glass showroom window. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
For the second time this winter, thieves drive sports cars through a Watkins Road showroom window
For the second time in three months, the police are investigating the theft of high-end cars from a local dealership.
Marysville Division of Police Deputy Chief Tony Brooks said that about 6:30 a.m. today, an employee coming to work at Coughlin Chrysler Marysville noticed the glass showroom doors were broken and called police. When police arrived, it was determined that at least three vehicles – believed to include a grey Dodge Hellcat, a purple Dodge Charger and another unidentified vehicle — were missing from the business showroom.
When he spoke with the Journal-Tribune this morning, Brooks said police were still on the scene investigating and no one with inventory knowledge from the business had arrived yet so the third vehicle had not been identified. Additionally, officials could not definitively say if any vehicles outside the showroom had been taken.
“We are still waiting on them to do an inventory of what’s at the dealership,” Brooks said. “There could be more.”
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage and determined that shortly after 3 a.m., at least two individuals broke into the building and took the vehicles.
The purple Dodge shown above in the Coughlin showroom may have been one of three vehicles were stolen from the dealership Wednesday night. (Online image)
“It appears they drove the vehicles through the glass showroom door,” Brooks said.
He said surveillance footage does not show where the vehicles went after they were driven off the lot.
He said investigators will know more information once they are able to talk with dealership officials.
Anyone with information about this incident or the suspects involved is being asked to contact the Marysville Division of Police at (937) 645-7300 or police@marysvilleohio.org.
Brooks noted the theft looks a lot like another theft that occurred in November.
“This is a very similar M.O. for this one as that one,” he said. “We will investigate the possibility that they are connected.”
About 3:15 a.m., Nov. 17, police were called to C & N Motor Cars LLC., 15769 Watkins Rd in Marysville. That dealership is next door to the site of this morning’s theft.
When investigators arrived, they found broken glass at the business and vehicles missing. The alleged thieves broke the showroom glass and took a purple 2018 Dodge Challenger Demon, a red 2017 Jeep Wrangler and a black 2007 Dodge Magnum.
In November, the Ohio State Highway Patrol initiated a vehicle pursuit with the three stolen vehicles on U.S. 33 eastbound, but the said the suspects eluded capture.
At the time, officials said the theft looked like an organized ring that similarly hit high-end dealerships in other communities.