A theft of a $120,000 Maserati from a dealership in New York City was foiled by a red light in the next block.
An employee of Maserati of Manhattan who noticed a white 2019 Quattroporte GTS missing from the showroom June 26 spotted it running on the street near the exit from the service department, according to the New York Post. The thief sped away but made it only about 500 feet before getting stuck in traffic at a red light.
At that point, he jumped out, handed over the keys and ran off. But other dealership employees chased down the man and held him until police arrived.
Prosecutors charged the 30-year-old with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He also appears to be guilty of bad planning.
The Case of the Briefly Missing Maserati was solved a day after the same dealership reported that someone stole an $87,000 Ghibli SQ4.
That theft happened at night and was captured on surveillance video, the Post reported. The keys had been left in the center console.
Both incidents happened in the first week that the dealership was back in business under New York's economic reopening procedures.
