Crime & Safety
BMW Is Stolen After Going Through Car Wash In Red Bank
Owner of Butch's Lube N' Wash on Newman Springs Road in Red Bank says the theft of a customer's car is a first in 65 years of business.
RED BANK, NJ — Another high-end car theft in the area Monday had a new twist: A man in a "lookout vehicle" entered a BMW after it came out of a car wash on Newman Springs Road and drove away in it.
The incident happened at Chuck Siebert's car wash, Butch's Lube N' Wash, which has been in business for 65 years, he said.
"We have never seen anything like this. It's very disappointing," he said on Thursday.
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He said Red Bank police were at the business Wednesday to review surveillance tapes, but so far he hasn't heard that the car, a black 2019 BMW 740, has been located.
Siebert said the owner of the car was waiting inside in the cold weather as the car was being washed on Monday, Nov. 14.
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He said in a Facebook post that the incident happened at about 12:50 p.m. when a black Mercedes G wagon - what police described as the "lookout car" - drove up to the car wash and a passenger got out and entered the BMW after it was finished being worked on. The attendant had gone to get the owner.
"It was broad daylight. Everyone was out and about," said Siebert Thursday.
He said the owner is in law enforcement and took the incident in stride, noting that no one was hurt and it didn't cause any accident. Both cars left the scene, heading westbound, police said.
Siebert said he is grateful no one was hurt, too.
But he said he has taken immediate steps to prevent something like this from happening again.
Expensive cars are being targeted in the state's car theft crime wave, he said, but all cars will be kept locked and the owners handed the keys once the cars are worked on. No cars will be left running or unlocked or unattended going forward, he said.
The incident is currently being investigated by the Red Bank Police Detective Bureau. Anyone with information is asked to call 732-530-2700, police said Thursday.
State police data shows 14,320 vehicles were reported stolen last year in New Jersey, a 22 percent rise from 2020, and those numbers are expected to rise by the end of 2022.
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