Search for man accused of stealing car from dealership

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McDonough Police are searching for a smooth-talking thief who drove off with a customer’s vehicle at a car dealership.

Surveillance video shows THE brazen crook walking around the desks in the service area of Legacy Ford. Those desks were momentarily unattended, providing him the opportunity to grab some keys and go.

“He actually sees a set of keys and he takes them. His goal was to find a key to a vehicle to steal a vehicle,” said Detective T.F. Spangenberg with the McDonough Police Department.

He said the thief didn’t even know which car the keys belonged to. He found it in the lot after beeping its fob.

Detective Spangenberg said the theft late last month happened after the bald-headed man with a silver goatee failed to find keys in some vehicles up front. He said the man’s determination to steal a vehicle from the dealership led him inside to the customer waiting area.

“He acted like he was a customer, he walked around, checked vehicles acted like he was going to buy a car, walked to the back because we do have some vehicles in the back lot,” said Justin Murray, the Fixed Operations Director at Legacy Ford.

Investigators said from the customer waiting area he drifted into the service area where he took the keys then found the vehicle then drove away.

“That’s definitely pretty bold, either he’s on something or he’s done this before,” said Murray.

The car, a low-mileage white 2014 Hyundai Genesis, belongs to a not too happy customer.

Legacy Ford General Manager, Emmanuel Jones II, said the dealership beefed up its security methods to prevent this from ever happening again.

“This never happened never had this issue before. This just highlights we have a different type of thief we are dealing with, someone a little more savvy when it comes down to,” said Jones.

Detective Spangenberg told FOX 5 News Investigators believe they have identified the thief and expect to make an arrest soon.

Jones said the customer whose car was stolen were ‘well taken care of.