Police catch 3 in connection to Carmel car dealer theft
CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) – Police said an officer witnessed thieves stealing cars from a dealership Tuesday.
Officers arrested three people, but more may still be at large. It began around 2:15 a.m. at Penske Chevrolet, 3210 E 96th St., just west of Keystone Parkway.
According to Carmel Police Department, the suspects smashed the windows to gain access to key boxes attached to the windows. Investigators said they believe the suspects intended to steal the vehicles.
Penske operators said that the suspects damaged from 30-40 vehicles. The operators were doing inventory Tuesday to determine exactly how many vehicles were stolen. Penske leaders believe the thieves caused at least $90,000 in damage.
Across 96th Street at Coast to Coast Imports Carmel, 9445 Threel Road in Indianapolis, the general sales manager, Michael Siaba, stayed busy reviewing security footage.
“We have security cameras all the way around the building. We have motion sensors. I’m sure that we can take a look at that and see if maybe they scoped out our place or anything like that,” Siaba said.
According to Penske, the thieves got into their gated lot because of construction on Keystone Parkway that left an opening to their property. Carmel police said an officer spotted four vehicles leaving the lot around 2:15 a.m. That officer attempted to pull over the suspects, but, according to police, they led police on a high-speed chase on I-465. Speeds reached 100 mph, police said. Police ended the chase.
Not long after, however, officers arrested three suspects in connection to the thefts, two juveniles and an adult. Police identified the adult as Gerron Arnes Delaney, 24. All of the suspects are from St. Louis. Investigators said they believe at least three other suspects are at large.
There was no word on the suspects’ connection to Indianapolis.
“It’s very disheartening for any business in this area to be impacted the way they were,” said Siaba at Coast to Coast.
Investigators said they are not sure where the suspects intended to take the vehicles or how many they planned to steal.
Anyone with information was asked to call the Carmel Police Department at (317) 571-2580.
