Gloucester

Newport News Car Dealership Theft

Group of unidentified thieves break into an auto shop and steal 13 cars

By Editor Paige Sibley

On February 24th, 2020, 13 cars were reported missing from an auto dealer on Jefferson avenue, in Newport News. It's estimated that around 2 a.m. the thieves decided to target A-Z Auto Sales and break in. They got away with a variety of cars, including anything from a BMW to a Range Rover.

The owner of A-Z Auto Sales, Shaq Azizi, conferms “Yup, they took a Maserati. That’s a $40,000 car.”

The surveillance cameras placed around the dealership recorded the event and the people involved with the crime. It’s believed up to 15 people were caught on tape. The suspects are thought to mostly consist of teens, which leads Azizi to believe they may have been “being stupid and drunk and having fun.”

Confused by the whole situation, Azizi adds “when you think about it, you think it might be organized crime, but it might be some dumb kids.”

According to Azizi, the thieves attempted to break down the front door of A-Z Auto Sales with a cinder block. Once that failed, they tried to get in through a window near the side of the shop. Once inside, they stole several sets of keys to the cars.

Not only were the cars that were stolen vandalized, while leaving the dealership, the thieves attempted to drive over a fence and got stuck, ultimately damaging a car that was still on the lot.

Azizi reassures the public that he does have good insurance, though the incident still caused severe damage to his business. Disappointed, Azizi says “we had a couple sales and cars are gone, customers calling, but we can’t deliver because the cars aren’t here.”

The Newport News police report that six out of the 13 stolen cars have been recovered. Azizi confirms that at least four of the cars were found abandoned in front of several houses. Another was found in Norfolk.

The police are still working on the case and following leads, but so far there aren’t any accused suspects.

When reporters asked if Azizi what he thinks of the police’s involvement in the situation, he responded, “until you really find out who it is, what are you going to do?”

The entire incident caught Azizi off guard. When asked what he thought the thieves were going to do with the cars, Azizi tells reporters “I don’t know what their plan was. They could’ve been taking it to the chop shop.”

As a precaution, Azizi claims he is “going to take my keys out of here. You can’t stop them from damaging cars, but at least you can save this type of headache.” Azizi describes the robbery as a “big wake up call,” and says he will be more alert in the future.