Thieves steal drive shaft from vehicle at used auto dealership

Dealership hit twice in a few weeks

SAN ANTONIO – Used auto dealership, Auto SATX on San Pedro Avenue, was hit for the second time in less than a month Wednesday morning.

The thief pulled up in a pickup truck, jumped the bar fence and proceeded to steal the drive shaft off another pickup truck. Surveillance video captured just how close the thief came from being seriously injured. 

As the thief was under the truck by the rear wheel, removing the shaft, the truck rolled forward. The thief got out of the way just in time. The truck was stopped by the bar fence.

"They put their life at risk for ($300) to $400," said Matthew Ranjbar, the car lot’s owner.

Ranjbar knew something was wrong when he first showed up to the lot and noticed the truck had moved.

"I start it up, put it into gear and it doesn't drive," Ranjbar said.

Ranjbar looked under the truck and noticed the drive shaft was gone. Then, he went to check out the video. Not only did he see the thief stealing the drive shaft, but something else disturbed him.

The video showed what appeared to be teenage boys helping him. One can be seen putting a part in the truck and another can be seen helping look over the lot to make sure they didn't leave anything behind.

"I am worried about those kids. The adult man, whatever he does, that is his life, but he is training them to do that stuff," Ranjbar said. "Somebody has to catch this guy."

Ranjbar filed a police report on this incident. It isn’t the first one he’s had to do lately. 

A couple of weeks ago another would-be thief broke into a Cadillac Escalade and tried to steal the sound system. He was unsuccessful, but did manage to cause about $3,000 in damage.

Despite the two incidents, Ranjbar is not about to give up his business.

"That's my job. I cannot quit my job," he said.


About the Author:

David Sears, a native San Antonian, has been at KSAT for more than 20 years.