Two car thieves from the Twin Cities used a tow truck to remove cars illegally from local car parks. They were eventually court at a mall, where a security guard caught them hooking up a car to the truck and confronted them.
The St. Louis police said: “If you think about it, you see a tow truck hooking up an older car, what would you think? It’s not the kind of thing you’d think would be stolen.” The men have been linked to at least three other car thefts.
Accused thieves used tow truck to steal cars
Thieves stealing cars is nothing new.
But police say two Twin Cities men got creative when they took vehicles from area parking lots.
They say Bobby Wallace of Hopkins and Jeffrey Carlson of Brooklyn Park pretended they were towing cars in order to take them.
A criminal complaint says a security guard at Knollwood Mall in St. Louis Park saw the men hooking up a flatbed truck to a car.
The men claimed the car was theirs, but a license plate check showed it wasn’t and the guard called police.
Investigators say the scam worked in part because nobody thought it seemed suspicious.
“If you think about it, you see a tow truck hooking up an older car, what would you think?” said Matt Reilly, an agent with the St. Louis Park Police Department. “It’s not the kind of thing you’d think would be stolen.”
Police say the men took at least three cars in Hopkins and St. Louis Park, and they’re checking surveillance camera videos for other possible thefts.
They believe the men were selling the cars for scrap metal, and making about $200 a car.
Both men now face felony charges of receiving stolen property.
Police say Carlson has a limited criminal history, but that Wallace will likely be extradicted to Louisiana, where he’s wanted on other criminal charges.
Thieves Steal Cars with Tow Truck
