COCOA, Fla. — Investigators are trying to track down a group of car thieves that targeted a dealership just a short distance from Cocoa police headquarters.
They were spotted by a passerby who made a call to 911, but the thieves drove away.
A short time later, one of the thieves crashed into a Brevard County Sheriff's Office cruiser, but the thefts may have started in Polk County.
One of the stolen vehicles from Polk County was driven to Paradise Ford, where the thieves struck again, investigators said.
The car thieves were still in the parking lot of Paradise Ford in Cocoa Tuesday morning when a passerby caught them in the act and made a call to 911, police said.
The caller told a 911 dispatcher that there were, “guys running around in the parking lot. They’re driving off with cars.”
Police said the thieves left a vehicle behind that was stolen from a Polk County dealership.
“A little bit later, we got notified from the Sheriff's Office that there was a deputy involved in a crash. We later learned it was one of our stolen vehicles from the Ford dealership,” said Yvonne Martinez of the Cocoa Police Department. “Another vehicle that was stolen from the Ford dealership was located abandoned in the area of 407 and the 528.”
A third stolen vehicle was found abandoned in Orange County. Cocoa police obtained surveillance photos from the convenience store where the thieves stopped shortly before crashing into the vehicle of a sheriff's deputy, who was uninjured.
“They appear to be local. Looks like they were out on an overnight crime spree,” said Martinez.
Investigators are consulting with other jurisdictions about the thefts.
In addition to Polk County, there have been similar vehicle thefts in Titusville.
Cox Media Group
