Dealerships scramble after thefts, vandalism, fires put losses in millions

The looters and vandals shattered showroom windows, burned two pricey AMG performance cars and broke windshields and spray- painted four more vehicles at Mercedes-Benz of Oakland in California. The extensive damage from the May 29 incident could top $3.5 million, estimates Ash Zaki, CEO of Euromotors Auto Group, which operates the dealership.

And that's only a fraction of the damage to dealerships across the U.S. after civil unrest broke out amid protests against police brutality that spread after the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.

The disturbances at dealerships began the evening of May 29, and incidents involving vehicle theft, broken glass and ransacked showrooms continued through early last week from the West to East coasts. More than 30 franchised stores in cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia and Santa Monica, Calif., were vandalized, had vehicles stolen or were forced to close. One store reported the theft of more than 80 vehicles. Dealerships representing at least a dozen brands ranging from ultraluxury Bentley and Ferrari to Chevrolet and Toyota were affected.

For Carlos Hidalgo, owner of a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership in San Leandro, Calif. — a city of 90,000 about 10 miles south of Oakland — the scene that played out the night of May 31 was surreal. Hidalgo told KRON 4 News that his store sustained looting for five hours as dozens of vehicles — from expensive Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcats to Jeep Wranglers — were driven off the lot.

"It pisses you off, man," Hidalgo told Fox affiliate KTVU. "You walk in; it's like a war zone."
Hidalgo's employees had seen looting begin at a Nike store across the street and tried to block dealership entrances with vehicles, according to KPIX, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco. But thieves broke into the dealership anyway and found the safe where vehicle keys were stored.

Lt. Ted Henderson of the San Leandro Police Department told Automotive News that more than 80 vehicles were estimated to have been stolen from Hidalgo's store with losses "in the millions."

"One of the cars [was] driven right off the showroom floor through the front window," Henderson said. "He sustained a substantial loss to his business, not only to the cars, but to the brick-and-mortar business itself."

Two days earlier in Oakland, Zaki got a call after 11 p.m. His general manager had just learned the Mercedes-Benz store had been vandalized. An AMG GT C and AMG GT 53 were set ablaze; prices for those models start at around $150,000 and $100,000. Other vehicles were spray-painted with words such as "Eat the rich." Roughly a foot of standing water poured into the showroom from the dealership's sprinkler system, and 14 more vehicles had smoke damage.

"This really happened way too fast, and the police had their hands full," said Zaki.

Volkswagen of Oakland and Honda of Oakland down the street each suffered damage. An online video showed a stolen vehicle being driven through the Honda dealership's showroom windows. Tim Thomas, the store's general manager, said computers were thrown through office windows, vehicle windows were busted and computers and other electronics were stolen.

Many of the stores were in urban areas or along major thoroughfares.

Toyota said three Toyota and three Lexus stores were affected and a Herb Chambers Cos. vehicle processing center in Massachusetts was broken into and had vehicles stolen and damaged. Nissan confirmed damage at four stores, while Hyundai said three stores sustained damage.

A Hyundai spokesman said city curfews put in place because of protests led many dealers to close stores early while others took action to protect stores. "One dealer in Chicago experienced some damage; broken showroom windows, furniture damaged and computers destroyed," the spokesman said. "Two other stores have reported a broken window and some graffiti on their stores."

In St. Louis, dealer Don Brown said thieves broke into his Chevrolet store around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 2, breaking a thick door and shattering showroom windows.

"There was probably at any given time 15 people here, digging through desk drawers, ripping desk drawers up, pulling cabinets apart, kicking down cubicles," said Brown, dealer principal, adding it looked like a tornado had blown through.

Vandals made off with a used Tahoe, a Camaro convertible and a customer's car. All told, the vehicles were worth about $100,000, Brown said.

Brown, who expects showroom damage to be covered by insurance, says he's not sleeping well and is concerned looters will return. He is locking everything down, removing keys and taking items home. But he won't hire armed guards.

"That's about all I can do right now," Brown said. "I will not have people here with guns waiting to keep them out, just because I don't want any of my people hurt."

Several Chicago dealerships were caught up in the vandalism.

Toyota on Western General Manager Ray Khouchaba said more than 30 vehicles, worth more than $1 million, were stolen. The dealership building and gate were damaged. He expects insurance to cover the losses.

"We feel violated," Khouchaba said.

Khouchaba said he thinks the heist — keys were stolen May 31 and vehicles June 1 — was an organized effort involving hundreds of people who were not protesters. Some vehicles have been located, including a 2018 Jaguar found 20 miles away and that was involved in a shooting, he said. The store's keys are now being kept in a panic room made from steel and with reinforced doors, he said.

Toyota on Western remained boarded up last week, with employees on-site during the day before nightly security arrived. Reopening was targeted for Monday, June 8.

Barbera's Autoland in Philadelphia reported five cars stolen.

"We already recovered four," said Gary Barbera, owner of the Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram dealership. "And the fifth one, they're doing the prints. They caught the people, and we're just so incredibly blessed."

The unrest reached the suburbs in many states.

In Los Angeles County, dealership damage was reported in coastal Santa Monica and ritzy Beverly Hills, where Group 1 Automotive Inc.'s Mercedes-Benz store was damaged; staff had to board up the showroom and replace windows, a spokesman said.

Three Sullivan Automotive Group dealerships in Santa Monica — representing Toyota, Lexus and Honda — were vandalized May 31, owner Mike Sullivan said.

Vehicle windows were shown smashed at Toyota Santa Monica in a YouTube video. Cars were crashed into one another, vehicles were stolen, computers were torn off walls, key machines were broken open and furniture was damaged, Sullivan said.

"It was really horrible," he said.

He closed 10 of his 12 stores temporarily because of the unrest. Sullivan said he did not have a dollar estimate on damage but was working with insurers.
Nearby, Alfa Romeo of Santa Monica also was hit. Vandals damaged vehicles, broke into offices, busted windows and stole and broke items, Sales Manager Armin Buholzer said.

While much of the violence seemed to ease as the week progressed, dealers were left to sweep up glass and try to track down stolen vehicles.

Dealerships that didn't experience the initial disturbances opted to prepare, adding more security or moving vehicle inventory ahead of planned protests. Used-car giant CarMax said it closed some stores early as a precaution or because of local curfews.

The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association sent a public safety alert to its 375 members May 29 with tips, alerting them to the possibility that Minneapolis protests could spill into suburbs and that dealerships could be a "high target for vandalism."

Back at Mercedes-Benz of Oakland, Zaki, whose team spent hours bailing out water and sweeping up broken glass, has notified two insurance companies that separately cover property and vehicles.

The store's showroom has been closed to in-person customers since March as part of the Bay Area's shutdown of nonessential business activity to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

As of the middle of last week, sales weren't expected to resume for several more days, Zaki said.

Restoration work comes next, including replacing waterlogged carpeting. Windows have been boarded up, and the dealership has increased security, placing two armed guards on watch during the day and three more at night.

Said Zaki: "That's really the best we can do."

Whitney McDonald, David Muller, Urvaksh Karkaria, Laurence Iliff, Larry P. Vellequette and Vince Bond Jr. contributed to this report.