50+ cars looted from S.F. Bay Area Dealership

[Auggie]

sfgate.com / 6-3-20

Police are hunting rioters who stole dozens of brand-new cars from a San Leandro Fiat Chrysler Jeep dealership, some smashing into parked vehicles to clear a path to an exit.

Among the 50 or more cars stolen were almost every one of the dealership’s high-end Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcats, which sell for about $90,000 each.

SNIP

Thieves broke into the building and gained access to a key safe. The key fobs likely guided them to corresponding vehicles.

At that point, a chaotic scene unfolded. Rioters smashed the cars they were driving into parked vehicles to move them out of the way. Dodge Chargers and Challengers peeled out, burning rubber as they sped out of dealership. One Hellcat was driven straight through the glass showroom window.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Dodge-Hellcats-stolen-in-brazen-looting-of-San-15311936.php

From the link: "As of Tuesday evening 20 to 25 vehicles have been recovered ..."

[Drum]

1. Good luck registering or reselling one

[Amishman]

2. if the thieves are smart, they are being broken up for parts as we speak

my guess is they could flip the parts of around 2/3rds of the car's value.

but joyride and eventually dump is more likely

[Brother Buzz]

3. They'll be dumped sans the engine

The 700 hp Hellcat engine goes for, like, 20 grand. I would assume the 1000 hp hellcat engine is worth even more.

[Blue_true]

29. Sounds like those cars are headed for chopshops.

No attempt will be made to register them in the USA.

It sounds like the people that did this were not run of the mill looters. They sound like pros at this type of stuff.

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Most likely in containers

bound for Foreign Buyers. Some will be chopped for the Engines,the rest are long gone.

[Auggie]

5. These brazen attempts get my attention ...

this is regional looting, well-coordinated and planned, occurring in areas away from urban protests and police presence. We've never really experienced anything like this before. Not in the Bay Area.

This establishes precedent, and shows it can be done. When The Big One strikes, all Hell could (probably will) break out.

[Brother Buzz]

17. Actually we have

32 Cadillacs was a novel by Joe Gore, a genuine gumshoe turned novelist in the San Francisco Bay Area. The novel was entertaining as hell, but it was partly based on a real event: A shitload of cars were stolen from numerous auto dealerships all around the San Francisco Bay Area....all on the same day.

[Auggie]

20. Never heard of this ...

never heard of Gore either (his books sound good). Thanks for sharing.

But even the theft of 32 Cadillacs could hardly be as bold as to enter a dealership in full view, raid the key vault, and drive through a showroom window.

[Blue_true]

32. Those people knew what they were doing. They were not opportunity looters. nt

[Nevilledog]

25. Sounds like "Gone in 60 Seconds "

[Brother Buzz]

31. Dan Kearny and Associates, a motley crew of accomplished San Francisco repo men....

verses a shit load of shifty gypsies. Hilarity ensues

Joe Gore had a chance meeting with Donald Westlake on a train in Spain and hatched a scheme to share a chapter in their next books.

Westlakes novel "Drowned Hopes" shares a chapter with "32 Cadillacs". The chapters are not identical, however, instead presenting the same event from the perspective of the characters in each book.

We find bumbling, but ethical thief, Dortman's ace get-away-driver, Stan Murch, a finicky car thief, trying to steal a stolen Caddy and encountering Dan Kearney and Associates rookie superstar repo man, Ken Warren, who suffers from an almost crippling speech-impediment trying to reposes it at the same time. More hilarity ensues.

[Blue_true]

30. Yeah. Sounds like the people who hit that dealership were not

amateurs knocking over a Dollar General to steal Bon-Bons. They sounded like pros that knew what they were doing.

[jmg257]

6. Ah well - It's (apparently) a good lesson...

Maybe the rich owner of that business will use his voice and privilege to call for change.
Or maybe the people will have to remind him again. Black lives are more important than cars.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13531070

[Auggie]

7. You're assuming a lot about this owner. Do you know them personally?

How do you know they're not champions of change?

[jmg257]

9. Not my post - see the excerpt. Pointing out how looting may be applauded.

[Auggie]

10. Sorry about that

[jmg257]

11. No worries - cheers!

[backscatter712]

13. Oh, is it time to give the protesters another Sunday school lesson on how stealing is a sin?

Some important reading:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/06/03/white-nationalist-pogrom/#evidence

The unequivocal finding of this peer-reviewed research: police escalation leads to violence. Sending police to protests in riot gear begets riots. Tear-gas begets violence. These are the findings of scholars and blue-ribbon panels alike.

They are roundly ignored by police.

There's a feedback loop: violent suppression of protest leads to militancy among protesters; this is the pretence for more violent suppression. We know this, we just don't act on it.

Instead, "We live in a world where trained cops can panic and act on impulse, but untrained civilians must remain calm with a gun in their face."

For those of you so concerned about property damage, talk to the cops. No, I mean it. Talk to those violent savage pieces of shit with badges - they're the ones that keep mashing the violence button, not the protesters. The protest organizers are busting their asses to keep things non-violent, most of the protesters are with them, yet everyone still wants to say it's all on them. Fucking bullshit.

[jmg257]

15. the conversation was re: looting, so maybe. Personally I'd be more worried about

About getting shot than committing a sin.


Of course do not like any deaths - looters and property protectors - dying over property is stupid..

[jmg257]

16. Luckily as a cop I never had to confront protest OR looters.

Stealing shit wouldnt be high on my list of recommended practices though.

I did have to confront that a few times - did not go well for the thieves. Arrested, charges pressed etc.

On Edit: I did work during the King riots but that was clear across the country. We were on extra notice though. Brought in extra patrols etc.

[backscatter712]

19. I get it. I don't approve of just smashing and stealing shit.

But the constant white-privilege lectures towards protesters are so fucking tiresome, and the constant pearl-clutching about looters are a right-wing shiboleth designed to take attention away from the real problem - POLICE BRUTALITY, and drum up support from the right-wing MAGAt base for the kind of violence they like - suppression and repression.

As I pointed out above, backed with academic studies, the police are the beginning of the problem, the cause of the present problem, and only their chilling the fuck out can make a lasting end to this.

How many times have I put on TV or livestreams and watched cops macing children, or hitting kneeling protesters, or assaulting journalists? Now it's attacking churches so our poltroon in chief can wave a Bible for a photo-op. It's cops assaulting first-aid stations, storming private residences, using "non-lethal" weapons deliberately in ways that are illegal - shooting people in the face with pepperballs or beanbag rounds - that's dangerous and illegal, and the cops think it's fucking funny.

When I was an Occupy protester, I personally watched police officers shoot a teenager in the face with a pepperball gun. Right between the eyes. If the ball had hit just an inch to the left or right, that kid would have lost an eye. These kinds of protests bring out unbelievable unprofessionalism in LEOs.

So do me a favor, officer. POLICE YOUR OWN! It's pretty clear that most cops are too chickenshit to do that, so the violent psychos get to do what they want.

Your entire profession is a fucking disgrace that is a dishonor to themselves and our country.

[jmg257]

22. Word! I would be taking a knee with the protesters. I have long since given up policing.

But yes - we certainly had our assholes.

My brother-in-law was chief of another local PD his last few years before retiring - had to deal with that racist shit often enough. K-9 units misused etc.

My PD was more rural - lots cows and stupid white people, but major crossroads


On a side note: I once did body guard work for Guiliani at a St Patty's parade before he became mayor...those NYC cops loved that clown!

Cheers!

[backscatter712]

27. Maybe I came on a bit too strong.

I'm sorry for that.

But yeah, you can see why I'm having a problem with all the coverage of the protests being nothing but ritualized pearl-clutching over looting. I don't want to see people's livelihoods get smashed, but it does seem that the real culprits seem to be apolitical thieves, or the cops themselves, or the boogaloos. Only a few of the actual protesters seem to succumb to idiocy, so I'm tired of the same fucked up narrative which is designed to lead to crackdown and repression. Not this time. And remember, the cops themselves are mashing the violence button repeatedly, specifically to discredit protest and dissent. When people get provoked too many times, they lash out - that's just human nature.

Any time you see the toxic narrative, call it out.

[jmg257]

28. No worries - I do understand, and always good to get another perspective.

It really does help! Luckily my kids help too!

You got it. I do want to be part of a solution, no matter how small.

[jmg257]

23. Another rememberance- when we were working during King riots,

Info came out over the teletype about cars of blacks would be looking to get pulled over so they could fuck with the cops...so that weekend every time a PD pulled a car over, we had like 3 other cars join in. SP, local PDs, sheriff...

Not good. People getting pulled over for traffic shit don't understand WTF is going on, all they see is lots of force.

sad.

[Blue_true]

33. I seriously doubt that the people that stole those cars give

a shit about protests, other than the protest drew away cops from near the dealership.

The whole affair sounds like the work of PRO auto thiefs.

But you make a sound point, societal injustices like police violence sets the stage for people that take advantage of the resulting chaos.

[backscatter712]

34. I'm pretty sure you're right.

When a group of people is knocking over a car dealership and stealing 50 cars, that doesn't strike me as having the MO of a group of protesters speaking out against police brutality and systemic racism.

Yeah, that smells more like an opportunistic criminal gang. Apolitical thieves.

Of course, the corporate media is going to be crying "LoOk At ThOsE LoOtInG PrOtEsTeRs!!!"

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Any day now he's going to volunteer his own car. NT

[Tipperary]

8. Well, someone posted here that looters are doing this to raise money at yard sales.

Good luck to them. There’s that pesky little vin number issue.

[LanternWaste]

18. Back-handed sanctimony is such wonderful look.

Good luck, indeed.

[Tipperary]

36. Oh, hey there dear!

[backscatter712]

12. These aren't protesters - just apolitical thieves, far away from actual protests.

But conflation will happen via the usual propaganda in 3...2...1...

[Auggie]

21. Thank you!

[R B Garr]

24. Oh yeah, but they've been quiet since the looters

in New York showed up in high end cars and were traced to organized crime. No more implying we’re racists because we question the looters.

Protestors confront the police. Looters run from the police. Why do looters run from the police? Hmmm

[backscatter712]

26. It's the right-wingers and Russians that want looters conflated with protesters.

Last edited Wed Jun 3, 2020, 08:29 PM - Edit history (1)

Best to make sure we keep our bad actors straight.

The vast majority of protesters don't need to be told not to loot - they're the ones on the street trying to put a stop to it.

Then, as mentioned, are the thieves - since the cops decided to deploy virtually ALL of their resources, to blast peaceful protesters with savage amounts of force, the thieves go to town.

Then there are the ratfuckers - police provocateurs - I've seen them a few times over the years - older DUers will tell you about COINTELPRO. Police provocateuring is truly a despicable tactic, by the way. Why on earth is it ever OK to sabotage a peaceful protest by inciting violence? Cops do this all the time. There are of course, the private bad-actors. White nationalists, boogaloos, nazis, klanheads have made their rounds of course, and there's a lot of corporate mercenary black-ops going on too. Gee, I wonder how those mystery pallets of bricks magically appear in the streets right before a protest is about to start?

But right now, the biggest bad actors are the cops - we're seeing a nationwide police riot here - the police are the ones deliberately provoking protesters, intimidating with "Darth Vader" gear, attacking people at random, and so on. Because they're butthurt about being called out for their shitty behavior.

If you want to stop the looting, the way to do it is to get the fucking cops to chill the fuck out and act like this was actually fucking America or something. You know, this thing about liberty and such? We don't need Imperial Stormtroopers goosestepping at the Lincoln Memorial.

[Blue_true]

35. They used the protests and cops being hot in the crouch to teargas

protesters to their advantage.

Those car spealers were most likely professionals, waiting for the right set of conditions. Those conditions could have been anything, if the Niners had won the Super Bowl and fans became really unruly for example, anything as cover.

[hunter]

37. OH NO, NOT CARS!

I'm the kind of guy who goes back into the store if I notice they forgot to charge me for a 99 cent item on a $200 receipt, or my change is wrong in my favor, but these opportunistic looters are only a distraction pumped up by right wing media.

Cars can be replaced. People killed by cops are not commonly resurrected.