South Sound repair shop hit by car thieves

A beloved Mini Cooper was stolen from a South Sound repair shop overnight Tuesday, along with four other customer vehicles.

The Meineke shop in Gig Harbor says in the last four months, eight vehicles and at least two catalytic converters have been stolen.

But thieves got the biggest haul overnight. Now they want Gig Harbor police to try harder to stop it.

“This is the biggest hit we’ve taken,” said Brian Kinnard, Meineke District Manager. “Five customer cars.”

He has been upset since he got to work Wednesday morning and saw this.

“They took all of the keys,” said Kinnard. “All of the keys to all of those cars are gone.”

Surveillance video shows the thieves driving off in a Mini-Cooper.

“Everyone knows I love my car,” said Lana Stephens of Gig Harbor. “So, I was, I was heartbroken.”

Stephens thought her Mini Cooper was safe.

“But yeah, my car was inside, which I felt good about when I left it,” said Stephens. “‘Cause I said ‘It’s inside. What’s the worst that can happen?’”

Just before midnight, burglars drove onto the Meineke lot, then drove away in her vehicle and those of four other customers.

“I’d like the city to do something about it,” Kinnard said. “Either patrol more up here or something along those lines. Because obviously, I can’t house every car that we have coming in.”

“If only we had the resources to put an officer on every corner,” said Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey. “We could probably clamp down on crime pretty well. But unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

Gig Harbor’s police chief said the city of more than 13,000 residents is battling a crime wave plaguing communities across the state.

“We’ve emboldened criminals in this state over the last couple of years,” said Busey. “The lack of ability to pursue is just a small part of that. But jails not being fully open yet due to some severe staffing issues. And just a sense of lawlessness right now.”

They also said this may have been an inside job. Only someone familiar with the system would know where the keys were.

But they are also planning to upgrade their camera system, hoping even if they can’t thwart the thieves, police will have a better shot at catching them.