The stolen trucks were driven from Detroit to Arizona without any problems.
A total of 14 new Ford F-150 units have been stolen from holding lots in Detroit and sold by the perpetrators with fraudulent titles. Stolen cars are not new as a string of car thefts have been reported in the United States. There was even a reported case back in January 2023 where an undercover cop car was stolen by four thieves and was taken on a 12-hour drive. As absurd as it may sound, this specific story can top that stolen car incident.
The criminal minds behind the stolen Ford F-150 units managed to drive the trucks from Michigan all the way to Arizona without encountering any problems, according to Detroit Free Press. The million-dollar car heist was made possible since Ford reportedly took months before alerting the authorities, allowing the perpetrators to smoothly transport the stolen trucks and eventually sell them to unsuspecting buyers.
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The Ford F-150 units were reportedly left unlocked with their keys inside. To make things more enticing for the criminals, the holding lot didn't have any surveillance cameras, which essentially made it like a candy store for unscrupulous individuals. However, the actual date of the heist was not clear although reports state that it could have happened between mid-October to mid-December last year.
The trucks were then driven to Arizona and were sold with legal titles, which were also stolen in Georgia in 2007. The perpetrators used the stolen blank titles to have a clean and legal document that would make the transaction legitimate. The F-150 units were then sold to car dealerships who were unaware that what they bought were stolen trucks since they came with legal titles and paperwork.
The whole scheme was allowed to happen since Ford failed to report that the 14 F-150 trucks were stolen. Naturally, the situation didn't ring any alarm bells during the time of the transaction, making it clean and legal.
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Cascio Motors in Scottsdale, Arizona is among the car dealers that were victimized by the heist. The police raided its dealerships last December 23, 2022, looking for four stolen F-150 trucks. Addison Brown, the co-owner of the said dealership, shared that Cascio Motors paid around $65,000 for each truck without having an idea that they were stolen goods.
Interestingly, we've recently published an article about the most stolen cars in America wherein the Ford F-150 is included in the list along with the Honda Accord, Chevrolet Silverado, and Toyota Camry, among others.
Ford spokesman Ian Thibodeau told the Free Press that the Blue Oval brand is among the victims in the million-dollar F-150 heist.
“Product theft is a sad reality for all manufacturers, including every carmaker, and retailers. When we become aware of robberies, we promptly report the losses to law enforcement agencies. … In fact, along with unsuspecting people who purchase these vehicles, Ford and other companies are victims here.”
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Keyword: 14 Ford F-150s Stolen From Detroit Were Sold Legally In Arizona