Central Wisconsin Car Dealerships Deal with Thefts
Wednesday, October 31st, 2018 -- 11:17 AM
(Wausau Daily Herald) -Recent thefts of tires and rims from central Wisconsin auto dealers are believed to be the act of a "sophisticated" ring of criminals who have targeted vehicle lots statewide, according to police.Thieves made off with over $20,000 worth of tires and rims from Stark Automotive in Merrill and Gross Motors in Neillsville over the past month. In addition, someone targeted an Ashland dealership shortly after the Merrill thefts. Earlier this summer, tire bandits hit dealership lots in Hayward, Bloomer, Menomonie and other cities. Investigators from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office are talking with Clark County police departments about similarities between the robberies in the Neillsville and Merrill areas. Surveillance video showed a white cargo van enter the lot at the Stark dealership on Brandenburg Avenue in Merrill after 1 a.m. Oct. 15, and the suspects used a device to raise nine vehicles in the air to remove the tires and rims, according to a Facebook post from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office.
A white cargo van was also used at Gross Motors in Neillsville at 4:15 a.m. Oct. 1, when thieves took tires and rims from seven vehicles. A number of Chevrolet and GMC dealerships in Wisconsin have been targeted over the past six months. Videos also showed a white cargo van at dealerships that were targeted in Menomonie and Bloomer, which makes police believe the crimes are connected. The earliest reports of such thefts came from the western part of the state. Thieves targeted dealerships in late May and early June in Dunn, Eau Claire and Chippewa counties.
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