There's a certain sense of pride that comes with bringing your teenage son into the family business. Teaching him the ropes, passing down knowledge, and preparing him to carry on the family legacy are all part of the dream. Of course ... that dream gets a little messy when the family business allegedly involves stealing millions of dollars worth of Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys. According to Houston news outlet KPRC 2, a mother, father, and their teenage son are among five people charged in an elaborate luxury vehicle theft ring involving approximately $3 million worth of high-end cars.
The Houston Police Department allege that this crime ring stole 15 vehicles in just three months. And these were not your ordinary Hyundais and Hondas either: “They targeted a lot of Mercedes, a lot of Cadillacs—Cadillac Escalades—Range Rovers, Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces, Bentleys, pretty much anything that had a very high price point, well over $100,000,” said Sargent Ben LeBlanc of the Houston Police Department’s Auto Theft Division.
The sophisticated theft ring didn’t rely on old-fashioned Slim Jims or high-tech key-cloning scanners to gain access to the vehicles. In fact, they didn’t have to break in at all; the vehicles were, reportedly, willingly handed over to them.
According to investigators, members of the alleged theft ring impersonated the vehicles’ owners or legitimate transportation companies to change delivery instructions. Instead of arriving at their intended destinations, the vehicles were reportedly redirected to locations controlled by the suspects. Once the suspects had possession of the vehicle, the tracking device was disabled, and the vehicle would be left in one of several different commercial parking lots for a “cool down period.”
Once the gang felt the car was safe to move, they would allegedly have it transported to a shipping port on the East Coast; from there, it would be loaded into a shipping container and shipped overseas. To throw authorities off the scent, the suspects would allegedly label the shipping container as “rebar.” (Imagine opening that container expecting to see construction supplies and instead finding a Lamborghini.)
If you're going to teach your teenage son a trade, I say, perhaps plumbing or electrical work would be a smarter choice. He might eventually earn enough to buy his own Lamborghini without having to explain to a judge how he got it.
