- Thieves took a total of eight Corvettes from a GM factory in Bowling Green, KY.
- Not long after, officers found all of the cars near an employee-driven ZR-1.
- Now, one person is in custody and officers are looking for other accomplices.
Thieves swipe cars all the time, but it’s not every day they decide to steal them directly from the automaker’s production line. Yet, that’s exactly what happened at General Motors’ Bowling Green, Kentucky, plant, where Corvettes are made. And just to add a little extra absurdity to the mix, this wasn’t a lone-wolf job. No, eight Vettes were taken.
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While it was initially reported that the 1,064-hp 2025 Corvette ZR-1 was among the stolen vehicles, GM later contacted Road&Track to clarify that a ZR-1 was not one of the stolen Corvettes. Nevertheless, you’d expect GM personnel to be particularly vigilant with these cars, regardless of their trim. Yet, despite this, a group of thieves managed to drive them off the lot.
A Routine Check That Wasn’t So Routine
In fact, the only reason the plant’s employees noticed it was missing was because the Warren County Sheriff’s Office called. An officer had seen a Corvette with all of its production facility stickers on it in an apartment complex around 14 minutes from the Bowling Green plant. Corvette salesman Mark Thomas posted about the event on Facebook and unveiled some of the details.
When the authorities reached out to the factory, apparently no one had noticed that not every model they had built was present and accounted for. Evidently, the Sheriff’s Office told the production facility it was missing at least one car. It turns out they were actually missing not one, but eight! Suspects reportedly cut through a fence to get the cars out.
It seems the thieves drove some of the stolen Corvettes to a nearby Lowe’s Home Improvement store. The reason behind this choice of destination remains unclear, but at least one sharp-eyed car enthusiast spotted a red ZR-1 and managed to snap a few photos. As luck would have it, the police were also at the scene, recovering some of the stolen Corvettes.
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Weirdly, the Lowe’s in question is just 7.3 miles, or around 17 minutes by car (likely even faster by a ZR-1 at full clap) from the factory. One would expect the thieves to store them in a closed garage or something, especially not next to a red brand-spanking new ZR-1 out in the wild would surely attract attention, but apparently, they were no criminal masterminds.
According to WBKO News, 21-year-old Deantae Walker of Westland, Michigan was arrested in relation to the daring heist. He’s now being charged with receiving stolen property of $10,000 or more, fleeing or evading police and resisting arrest, while officers are still searching for his accomplices.
