Chicago

5 Cars Stolen From Dealership in Suburban Tinley Park

Five vehicles were stolen Friday night from a car dealership in suburban Tinley Park, according to police.

Around 11:20 p.m., five masked individuals drove a stolen vehicle onto the lot at Bettenhausen Automotive, located in the 8300 block of W. 159th St., authorities said.

They then broke a back bay window and entered the store, police said. Once inside, each suspect got inside a separate car and left the lot, heading eastbound on 159th St.

Officials found one of the cars no more than a mile from the dealership on 159th St. after the driver abandoned it and entered another stolen vehicle. Officers saw the four remaining vehicles in the area and attempted a traffic stop, police said in a release, but the suspects refused and fled the scene. They were last seen driving northbound on I-57, authorities said. [[414786064, C]]

Police are still searching for the four missing vehicles, which are:

  • Blue 2013 Dodge Charger (Illinois registration #S134102)
  • White 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee (no registration)
  • Black 2015 Chrysler 200 (Illinois registration #Z314994)
  • Blue 2015 Dodge Charger (Illinois registration #742270)

One of the owners of the dealership said this was not the first time they have been hit, as one car was stolen off the lot about six months ago.

The facility has 57 surveillance cameras already, management said, but they were discussing plans to increase security measures following a rash of break-ins at dealerships across the Chicago area, and now plan to make even further changes. [[414783803, C]]

Friday’s incident is the latest in a string of car thefts across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs over just the last few weeks.

On Tuesday, five people broke into the Marino Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in the Portage Park neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest Side, but could not find any keys and fled the scene without stealing any vehicles before police arrived.

On Sunday night, five vehicles were stolen from an Infiniti dealership in north suburban Libertyville, police said, with one of the suspects leading police on a pursuit that ended in a crash in Racine County, Wisconsin. The accident did not involve any injuries and the suspects fled on foot, officials said.

The previous week, multiple cars were stolen from two west suburban dealerships, according to police. Five vehicles were taken from Lucky Motors in Villa Park on Feb. 13, and just a few hours later, police said six cars were missing following a break-in at an Infiniti dealership in Clarendon Hills.

In early February, four BMWs and a Porsche were taken from the Autobarn Volkswagen dealership in Evanston, while four BMWs were found abandoned after being stolen from a luxury car dealership in Chicago’s Goose Island neighborhood less than a week later.

Authorities are investigating a possible connection among these car thefts, though no one is in custody in connection with any of the break-ins.

Anyone with information on Friday's incident is asked to contact Tinley Park police at (708) 532-9111.

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