In yet another brazen auto theft, a thief stole a freshly cleaned luxury vehicle from a Red Bank car wash Monday, police confirmed.
On Wednesday, police Chief Darren McConnell said a 2019 BMW 740 was taken from Butch’s Lube ‘n Wash on Newman Springs Road.
As described in a Facebook post by car wash operating manager Chuck Siebert, the theft occurred at 12:50 p.m. An attendant had just finished cleaning the car and went inside the shop to get the car’s owner, he wrote.
In the interim, a passenger in black Mercedes G Wagon, which stopped on the roadway heading westbound in front of the car wash’s exit lanes, got out and stole the BMW, Siebert told redbankgreen.
Both vehicles left the scene heading westbound, he said.
“The whole thing happened in 13 seconds,” he said, citing surveillance video recording of the incident. McConnell said the video was not immediately available.
Because the weather was cold, there were few customers at the time, and all were keeping warm inside the shop, Siebert said.
Siebert said the theft was the first from Butch’s in 65 years of operation, and the first from a local car wash that he’s aware of.
Now, he said, his staff is “taking all precautions” by not leaving cars unattended, running or with keys inside, he said.
Thefts of high-priced vehicles have soared in New Jersey in recent years, with reports of thieves entering homes to get access to keys and security fobs.
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