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Cunning thieves swap dealership keys

Thieves steal high end car straight off Durban North dealership floor.

CUNNING thieves recently made off with a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser, valued at more than R850 000, right off the dealership premises on Waterkant Road. It is believed the armed suspects confronted a guard at the premises at gunpoint. The suspects assaulted the guard and then tied him up before making off with the vehicle. However police investigations revealed the plan to steal the vehicle was hatched earlier in the day.

Police said the theft was a variation of a more widespread crime called ‘key swapping’. The crime involves a suspect test driving a car with the real key, and when the drive is over he hands the ‘dummy’ key to the sales representative instead of the original key.

“Though the incident occurred at about 8pm that night (Saturday, 11 April), the plan began earlier that day. We believe one of the men linked to this crime entered the dealership to inquire about the Land Cruiser. He asked to test drive the car and was given the key. He sat in the car for a few minutes before he said he had decided against taking the vehicle. He handed the key back to the sales rep on duty and duly left. What we discovered through our investigations, however, was that the key handed back was a fake.

“When the armed suspects returned later that night they were able to make off with the vehicle, which was parked inside the dealership property but outside the showroom with a number of other vehicles. The men managed to drive off with the high-end vehicle. Though this is the first incident reported in Durban North and uMhlanga, I urge car dealerships to be especially mindful when keys are returned after a test drive. Each dealership may have different rules and regulations, but they need to remain vigilant for this sort of crime,” he said.

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