At least 10 thieves caught on video stealing luxury cars from northwest suburban dealership
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (CBS) -- High-end vehicles were stolen in matter of minutes from a northwest suburban dealership this week - and it was caught on camera.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, the manager of the dealership said they have made significant changes after the costly car heist on Monday.
Early that morning, a sport-utility vehicle pulled into the pre-owned car lot at the Exclusive AutoHaus at 1600 S. Roselle Rd., in an unincorporated area of Cook County between Roselle and Schaumburg. At least 10 masked people jumped out.
"I was surprised, and scared at the same time, of that many people showing up to a dealership in the middle of the night," said the manager of Exclusive AutoHaus.
The manager refused to show his face, but he did share surveillance of the thieves in action. They were seen breaking the glass to the garage and calmly walking in.
"They look young," the manager said. "They do look young to me."
Once inside, the owner told Cook County Sheriff's police investigators the crooks found the lock box with the vehicles' keys – and stole six luxury vehicles.
The video shows the thieves using the key fob to look for cars to unlock on the lot.
Despite the burglary alarm going off, the thieves and vehicles were gone before police could respond. It left the owners upset.
"It's getting frustrating every single day, because knowing small business owners are not safe," the manager said.
The dealership sells many high-end pre-owned vehicles. The owner reported stolen an Audi, a Mercedes Benz, and a Maserati – just to name a few.
The entire heist took less than 10 minutes, but the manager said what they really lost was a sense of security.
"I used to think that nothing like that would happen around here, but you know, this completely proved us wrong," the manager said.
Terry did ask the manager if they believe a former employee could be connected to the thefts. He said that is very unlikely – saying they are a close, family-owned used car dealership.
The manager would not tell Terry the total estimated value of the cars stolen.