POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have identified some of the thieves who stole more than a dozen high-end used vehicles from a car dealership, Thursday morning. 7News was on the scene when some of those vehicles were found.
The family-owned car dealership was hit before employees showed up for work Thursday morning. More than $240,000 worth of cars were gone and nowhere to be found. “I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it,” said Emerson Rodriguez, who discovered the stolen cars. “It’s a lot of cars. They did a lot of dirty work.”
When Rodriguez went into the car dealership for work in Pompano Beach, he was shocked. “I got here to open the store, and I saw that something was wrong,” he said. “We were missing some cars here.”
Thirteen cars were missing from the Brascar lot in the middle of the night. The burglars got inside the dealership’s office through a window and stole keys to several vehicles and drove them away.
According to the car dealership owner, at least two of the cars had a GPS tracker installed. “This one has a GPS,” said business owner Stephan Juljis.
Within 12 hours of the theft, the vehicles began turning up. The first was a red SUV that was found off of First Avenue. “It is very unfortunate that there is people that – you know, we’re working hard to employ people, to give jobs,” Juljis said.
Just a few blocks away, a Jeep Cherokee was found in an apartment complex parking lot.
Another SUV was found a few blocks away at an apartment complex. One BMW was dumped not far from the apartment complex in an alley and a gas can was found in the back seat. From there, several other cars were found, but at least one was not in the mint condition it was in originally. “It wasn’t like that. It was like new,” Rodriguez said.
Ten of the 13 vehicles had been returned to the dealership by Friday, and employees were pleased.
“We’re all surprised, we was very surprised that they found most of the cars,” Celuli Maciel said. “We are happy about that, yes… It’s tough you know, it’s crazy. You come into work and you’re like ‘Oh my gosh, where’s the cars?'”
Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies dusted the cars for fingerprints and said they have six suspects in custody as of Thursday evening. They’ve also gotten tips on where those final three cars could be.
The whole ordeal has been frustrating for the family-owned business. “We work hard here to keep the business going,” Rodriguez said. “And it’s frustrating for us to see something like that happen here.”
Police believe there are more suspects that remain at large. If you have any information on this burglary, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.