We at Road & Track certainly don't know if a handbook for car thieves exists. But if it did, there would certainly have to be a chapter on how to avoid getting caught. And that chapter probably begins with some fairly obvious advice—like, for example, don't steal a $210,000 Porsche Panamera while wearing a GPS ankle monitor that tells the authorities exactly where you are.
According to a report by WPLG Local 10 News, 19-year-old Joseph Dexter Watson IV has been accused by authorities of participating in the October 24 theft of a Porsche Panamera. The luxury car was reportedly stolen from a multimillion-dollar mansion in Miami-Dade County's Horse Country neighborhood.
According to investigators, Watson and at least three accomplices arrived at the property in a Mercedes-Benz shortly before 6:30 p.m. The group allegedly broke into a Cadillac Escalade parked outside the gated property, but apparently not satisfied with the score, one of the suspects reportedly climbed over a fence and stole the Porsche. Inside the Panamera, authorities say, were seven pairs of shoes valued at roughly $4200. The Porsche's owner quickly tracked the car to a Hampton Inn parking lot in Deerfield Beach; When Broward Sheriff's Office deputies arrived, they found the Porsche, but nobody was inside.
However, locating one of the suspects was surprisingly easy. See, in January, Watson allegedly led police on a bizarre chase: according to authorities, the rented Kia he was driving crashed into a mail truck, when he then reportedly tried to hide in another mail truck before attempting to flee the scene in an Uber. Watson was caught and spent approximately two months in jail before being released on bond in March.
As a condition of his release, Watson was ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor. According to investigators, it was that very monitor that placed him at the scene of the Porsche theft. He now faces new charges, including traveling with intent to commit burglary of an occupied dwelling, masked burglary of an occupied dwelling, and grand theft of a motor vehicle. He is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center—this time, without bond.
