Two stolen trucks from a Wetaskiwin, Alta. car dealership, has the Motor Dealer’s Association of Alberta (MDAA) warning other dealerships to take a closer look at the keys they receive.
On Tuesday the MDAA said a man entered the pre-owned department of Adams Chevrolet where he looked at two trucks, a silver 2014 GMC Sierra diesel and a black 2015 Ford F-350. The man apparently sat in the vehicles and started them, but didn’t drive them. He gave the keys back to staff before leaving.
What staff didn’t realize at the time is that the keys had, at some point, been switched.
General manager Curtis Compton said the keys the suspect switched them with were identical to the ones that were taken.
“You’d never know until you actually put another key side by side and you’d know they were two different keys.”
Compton said the stock tags had been removed from the dealerships keys and put them on the bad keys.
The man and a second suspect were seen later on security footage coming back in the early morning hours and driving away with the trucks.
In a release Friday, Wetaskiwin RCMP confirmed the thefts and said another dealership was hit Thursday, where a single vehicle was taken.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Wetaskiwin RCMP at 780-312-7267.