Man tunnels into car business to steal keys for ‘test drive,’ Virginia deputies say
A man tunneled into an auto business to steal car keys, then told cops he was doing drywall work, Virginia deputies said.
A business alarm brought deputies to the scene the morning of Jan. 7, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office said in a Jan. 9 news release.
They met a 35-year-old man from West Virginia who told them he was an employee of the Fredericksburg auto business and explained a hole in the wall as drywall work he was doing, authorities said.
As they began investigating, deputies said they uncovered “something similar to a scene from the Shawshank Redemption,” referencing character Andy Dunfresne’s escape from prison via a tunnel in the 1994 movie.
The man tried to break into the business next door using a crowbar but eventually gained entry through a garage panel when the first plan failed, deputies said.
Then, he tunneled through that wall into the business next door, a used car dealership, according to Stafford authorities.
Once he broke through the drywall and made it inside the business, he took the keys to a vehicle, a company hat and a company pen, with the plan to write a note that he was taking the vehicle for a “test drive,” deputies said.
Authorities reported they found him on his way to the vehicle with the keys and other items on him.
He was booked at the Rappahannock Regional Jail and charged with two counts of statutory burglary, attempted grand larceny, larceny, possession of burglary tools and two counts of destruction of property, according to the sheriff’s office.
Court records show the man from Romney is being represented by a public defender, but the office told McClatchy News it could not disclose if it was representing him and does not comment on pending cases.
Fredericksburg is 60 miles north of Richmond.
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