Update (3/7/2023): Security camera footage obtained by WTVQ from Don Franklin Somerset Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Kentucky shows the thieves breaking into the dealership and stealing the Challenger SRT Hellcats in less than a minute.
According to authorities, criminals broke into a dealership around 2 a.m. and drove away with six Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcats in less than a minute. As of this writing, police have located five of the six but one still remains in the wild. We don’t think this is what Dodge had in mind when they released the Challenger Hellcat Jailbreak.
The dealer in question is ‘Don Franklin Somerset Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram’ located in Somerset, Kentucky. That’s about 90 minutes from Lexington or 50 minutes from the northern Tennessee border. The theft is a pretty big blow considering how little time it took to complete.
“Really just heartbreaking. It’s $600,000 worth of cars gone. You know, that’s a lot of money. A pretty big deal,” said general manager Adam Bryant to local news network WKYT. “They broke out a back window, got into the building, found the keys to all six vehicles, and drove them off the lot in a matter of minutes,” he continued.
According to the manager, a group of seven individuals were able to make off with all six Hellcats in just 40 seconds. “And they were gone. Once they tripped the alarm, it takes 60 seconds before it starts alerting. They were gone 20 seconds before the alarm started to go off. The response time of the police was like three minutes. It was really good,” Bryant added.
Read: Your Brand New Dodge Hellcat Has Probably Already Had A Parking Boot On It
Once off of dealer property, the thieves split up and went in dramatically different directions. Overnight, the police found five of the six cars. One was totaled in a police pursuit and its driver was arrested. Four other cars were found in different places including Tennessee and Alabama.
At least one seems to have simply run out of fuel. Finally, the sixth car is still unaccounted for but Police believe that it’s in Alabama according to GPS data. They say that they’re working with local authorities to locate the Hellcat.
Dodge dealers seem to have a major problem keeping Hellcats on their lot. We’ve seen countless instances of thieves targeting the high-horsepower cars. Data from 2019 suggests that it’s not all anecdotal either. In fact, this isn’t even the first time that this particular dealer has suffered a similar Hellcat breakout. In September of 2022, four other Hellcats were stolen from the same location.
