PLEASANT VIEW, Tenn. (WKRN) – Police in Middle Tennessee are continuing to see a disturbing crime trend that mixes speed and high combustion.
The trend is criminals stealing high powered muscle cars for the expressed purpose of stealing more items and committing more crimes, and it appears to have happened again early Sunday morning in Pleasant View.
Surveillance footage at a Pleasant View motel captured two vehicles, including a 2015 black Dodge Challenger, driving through the parking lot.
According to police, the Dodge was stolen from Clarksville, and the criminals were using the high octane get away car to commit other crimes.
In Pleasant View’s case, the suspects smashed the glass of a hotel guest’s SUV. Police said they stole some headphones and a coin purse.
Chief Adam Wright of the Pleasant View Police Department said he has heard of the problem, but this is the first time they’ve seen it in the small Cheatham County town that borders I-24.
“We’ve heard about these incidents where Dodge high performance vehicles are stolen and used to run from the police,” he said.
High performance vehicles being stolen is a growing problem in Nashville.
According to Metro police, compared to last year at this time there’s been a 150 percent increase in the number of Dodge Challengers and Chargers stolen in Music City. Police said 85 Dodge Challengers and Chargers have been stolen so far this year; last year, that number was 148.
In Gallatin, police report five stolen high performance vehicles and two attempted car thefts.
“They have more dealerships than us. We’ve had an uptick in high performance vehicles being stolen in our area, which for five this year is a high number for us,” said Captain Lamar Ballard with the Gallatin Police Department.
Earlier this year, GPD showed News 2 video of thieves coming to town in stolen muscle cars with the purpose of stealing other muscle cars. In one video, the suspects brought a stolen Dodge muscle car to a car lot to steal another high performance Dodge that they drove through the fence.
If you know anything about the black 2015 Dodge Challenger stolen in Clarksville or the smash and grab at the I-24 motel in Pleasant View, call Clarksville police at 931-648-0656 or the Pleasant View police at 615-746-0600.
