PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
BUSY BURGLARS … In a photo shared on the Facebook page of Ballas Chevrolet, a burglarized vehicle can be seen up on blocks and missing its wheels after thieves struck it and at least three other dealerships in the area.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
A string of dealerships across Fulton County were recently burglarized, with vehicles left on blocks and their wheels missing.
Ballas Chevrolet in Swanton, Don’s Chevrolet in Wauseon, Snyder Buick GMC in Napoleon, and Terry Henricks Ford in Archbold were all hit overnight between Saturday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Oct. 26.
Swanton Police Chief John Trejo said his officers were driving through the parking lot Sunday afternoon when they noticed a vehicle up on blocks and started investigating.
“As word traveled, some of the other agencies had similar cases. Wauseon, Archbold, Napoleon,” Trejo said. “We’re pretty much putting our heads together, feeding the information that every agency has and then we’ll go from there as far as completing the investigation.”
Ballas Chevrolet Dealer Principal Tim Robinson said the officers called him and filed a report on site. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s something that we deal with a lot in this business,” Robinson said. “I’m surprised that it happened in Swanton. We have another dealership in Toledo, and it happens more often out there.”
He said the thieves tried to steal a second set of wheels and had removed the lug nuts but left before they finished.
“We’re happy to be in Swanton. A small little incident like this isn’t going to discourage us,” Robinson said, adding “I’m sure that the people that did it aren’t even from Swanton, if I had to guess.”
Two vehicles were also targeted at Don’s Chevrolet, again with the thieves getting away with only one set of wheels. A representative from the dealership said that the tires and rims were taken off a full-size SUV, and an adjacent vehicle with locking lug nuts had its windows broken and the glove box opened.
According to Wauseon Police Chief Kevin Chittenden, the suspect vehicle was caught on camera at Don’s.
“I think somebody was walking along the path, noticed it, and called it in to us,” Chittenden said. “That’s what led us to contact Don’s.”
“They came in and noticed and then they were able to check back on their cameras. It looked like it was between 10 and 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night.”
Chittenden said in his 22 years with the department he remembers something like this happening before, but that it has been several years.
In Napoleon, Snyder Buick GMC New Car Sales Manager Joe Bickel said their situation was the same, with wheels stolen from one new vehicle and one used vehicle, with windows broken and both left on blocks.
“It’s just frustrating,” Bickel said. “It was coordinated, you’d almost have to think it was either the same people or the same group that did it, just that it was all these local ones all at the same time, the same time frame.”
Bickel said he walked the lot and checked the buildings Sunday and was pleased to find the theft and vandalism was at least limited to the two vehicles.
The new vehicle that was burglarized had just been in a Halloween parade Saturday night and was not dropped off until around 9 p.m., so they were hit sometime after that.
Terry Henrick’s Ford Sales Manager Kyle Sauder pointed out the swift timeframe of the burglary at their dealership, where he said they showed up at 10:50 p.m. and left at 11:01 p.m. with the $8,000 worth of wheels from a single vehicle. He said the incident was “sickening.” “They’re professional enough they’ve done it enough times to get away with it,” Sauder said.
Several of the dealerships said they had heard unconfirmed rumors that a dealership in Defiance was also burglarized the same night.
Neither the Napoleon nor the Archbold police chiefs were available for comment. Chief Trejo reminded residents to be aware of their surroundings.
“If anybody sees any suspicious activity late at night or doesn’t look right, make sure [you] report it to the nearest agency,” Trejo said.