Mercedes lover sneaks onto car lot 4 times, then swipes $75,000 car, Georgia cops say

A very determined Mercedes lover is accused of sneaking into an Atlanta-area dealership five times in one week trying to steal one of the pricey autos, according to investigators in Georgia.

It was on his sixth visit that the plan worked, resulting in a $75,000 car/ vanishing in the night, Gwinnett County Police said in a Dec. 23 news release.

“Just before midnight on December 7, (he) comes back to the dealership and enters the business. He steals three key fobs and a 2025 Mercedes Benz GLE350,” police said.

The 24-year-old man held onto the car just two days before it was impounded during a traffic stop, police said.

However, he got lucky yet again.

“At the time of the traffic stop, the Mercedes had not been entered in as stolen. (The suspect) had been driving the stolen Mercedes but had been released at the scene,” the police said.

The Duluth man was finally arrested Dec. 11 after being found “loitering around a Chrysler car dealership” in Albany, Georgia, police say.

He is charged with three counts of burglary in the second degree, three counts of loitering and prowling, three counts of misdemeanor theft by taking and one count of motor vehicle theft, police say.

Investigators say he showed up after hours at the Mercedes Benz dealership Dec. 3, Dec, 4, Dec. 5 and Dec. 7, and was seen wandering the lot and pulling on doors. On Dec. 3, staff booted him off the lot twice: Once at 2:40 a.m. and again at 9:30 p.m., police say.

Gwinnett County is about a 30-mile drive northeast from downtown Atlanta.

This story was originally published December 24, 2024 at 4:28 AM with the headline "Mercedes lover sneaks onto car lot 4 times, then swipes $75,000 car, Georgia cops say."