Kentucky Man Cosplays as Salesman After Breaking Into Dealership

by Carl Malek | October 25, 2024

An inventive criminal in Kentucky adds an innovative spin to break-in by pretending to be salesman for automotive dealership after being caught.

Police in Kentucky responded to an unusual crime where a crook pretended to be an employee.

When someone breaks into an automotive dealership, they are typically there to steal the product with thieves preferring performance vehicles like Dodge Challenger Hellcats and even new pickup trucks. It’s not often that a vagrant chooses to go outside the box for their dastardly deed with stealth and speed being their main allies as they attempt to escape with their four-wheeled treasure.

However, a criminal in Kentucky chose to go a rather unusual route in breaking into a car dealership with the crook choosing to pretend to sell vehicles instead of attempting the five-fingered discount baffling the dealer owner and the police when he was caught in the act red-handed.

Criminal cosplays as salesman

Cardwell claimed he owned the dealership he broke into but his ruse quickly fell apart.

According to WNKY NBC News 40 The strange crime took place on October 18th when police received reports of a suspicious person prowling around R&M Auto Sales in Bowling Green, Kentucky. When the officers arrived on the scene, they found 34-year-old Dustin Cardwell in the building. When questioned, Cardwell claimed that he was the new owner of the dealership and that he bought the business “an hour ago” with that claim quickly being proven false by authorities.

When the actual owner of the business arrived and looked at the security cameras, the full extent of Cardwell’s strange night of criminality rapidly began falling into place. The footage revealed that Cardwell climbed in through the back window and was appearing to get ready for work like an employee. He also took the keys and paperwork for a 2017 GMC Sierra pickup before driving the truck to a gas station to fill it up and later returning the truck to the dealership. When asked why he did it, Cardwell said that he was getting ready to sell the truck to a couple though it remains unknown who the alleged buyers were or if Cardwell made them up to try and cover up his crime. Authorities later charged Cardwell with third-degree burglary, theft by unlawful taking of over $10,000, first-degree criminal mischief, unauthorized possession of a vehicle title, no operator’s license, and reckless driving.

Strange crime highlights broader problem for dealerships

Cardwell’s unusual crime highlights how big of a target dealerships can be for thieves.

While Cardwell’s crime is certainly one of the strangest that we have ever heard about, it also highlights just how juicy of a target an auto dealership can be for criminals looking to make a quick buck at someone else’s expense. These businesses not only have massive amounts of vehicles in their inventories but also have equally large pools of sensitive consumer data including financial records vehicle titles and more.

As a result, many auto dealerships invest large sums of money into state-of-the-art security systems and silent alarms that let police know when an intruder enters the building. That said, these systems are not fool-proof and some smaller dealerships cannot afford these countermeasures which makes them vulnerable to criminals.