A salesman, clinging to the hood of a car, was taken on one scary ride as thieves stole the vehicle from a family owned dealership in east London.
Sport Motors Auto Sales at 1080 Oxford St. posted video of the brazen March 3 theft to social media.
Dealership owners said the suspects showed up to the car lot just before 6 p.m. inquiring about a 2018 BMW. After asking the salesman to start the vehicle in order to hear the engine running, one of the men said he needed to make a phone call. The salesmen got out of the vehicle, which did not have the keys inside, in order to give the man privacy.
With the salesman standing in front, the vehicle was put into drive.
“The suspect floors the vehicle towards the sales rep hitting him falling on the hood and kept accelerating, the sales rep had been scared for his life hanging on,” Sport Motors wrote in a Facebook post.
Security camera footage (shown below) of the incident shows the vehicle speeding through the car lot with the salesman, identified only as Moe, hanging onto the hood. It shows the vehicle being driven erratically at a high rate of speed as it heads down Oxford Street.
“He almost took the salesman’s life on numerous occasions during this incident,” the dealership post continues.
It goes onto allege the driver ran red lights, veered into oncoming traffic and swerved aggressively in an effort to throw the salesman from the hood. Eventually, the salesman is forced to let go. Video shows him tumbled into the pavement where he is nearly hit by a tow truck. He then runs toward the bus lane where he tries to stop and is again nearly hit by a silver vehicle the dealership said was connected to the theft.
The salesman was treated at hospital for minor injuries.
“It is unfortunate that thieves nowadays are capable of such action. To be confident enough to steal a vehicle in broad daylight with no fear of killing someone in the process,” the dealership Facebook post states.
London police are investigating the incident. The stolen BMW’s GPS shows the vehicle is in North York.
Police are asking the public for any dashcam video of the incident. They are also looking for a suspect described as male, with dark skin and a thin build, about 5' 8", 140 lbs, black puffy hair and a black beard. He was wearing a black mask, a navy blue suit, with a white dress shirt with dots.
Dealership owners said they decided to share the video footage of the theft in hopes of identifying and stopping those responsible. They are also urging anyone who witnessed or has dash camera footage of the theft to call police.
“As a community, a province, and country, we need to work together to keep our loved ones safe,” Sport Motors concluded in its post.
