DAYTON — Car thieves are now targeting repair shops.
Terry Toner owns Kettering-Oakwood Automotive. On Wednesday, he said he got to work and saw a giant hole in his window.
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“You’re sick to your stomach instantly, then all the sudden anxiety kicks in,” Toner said.
His security video showed a man walking around the building before going around to the back of the building. That’s where Toner said he ripped the dealer plate off one of his loner cars.
But he wasn’t done there. He then grabbed a piece of spare parts and banged on a window until it broke open. That’s when he reached his arm inside and grabbed the only keys on the desk.
“He stole a key to an Amazon van. He unlocked the van, but never got into the vehicle and walked away and left the vehicle,” he explained.
Since Wednesday, Toner said he’s heard from other shops in the area.
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“So I was one of six stops that night that he tried to break into,” he said.
Now, he’s adding motion detectors outside, sensors to his windows, and braces on his doors.
“I’ve owned a shop for 10 years. I’ve never had a car broken into. I’ve never had nothing stolen. No vandalism, nothing. So it just shows you what kind of times we really live in nowadays. It’s scary,” he told News Center 7′s Xavier Hershovitz.
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