Wheels, tires stolen from three trucks at dealership

A thief stole 10 wheels and tires from three trucks at the Bender Chevrolet GMC dealer early Saturday.

Brad Bender said a man who “knew what he was doing” left two wheels because “he didn’t have room in the bed of his truck.”

The man captured on security video parked in a dark area and had removed the tags from his vehicle, Bender said.

“Just a single guy,” said Bender, who is also a Curry County commissioner. “He spent two hours walking back and forth … when a car pulled in (to the car lot) he would crawl under a car to avoid detection.”

Bender said the man propped up the trucks on 4x4 wood blocks “all cut exactly alike.”

Bender said he’d been told about similar incidents happening at out-of-town dealerships but could not immediately confirm.

Value of the wheels and truck tires is about $11,000 Bender said.

Nothing else was reported missing.

Bender said the incident happened between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Saturday. Company officials are searching online sites and eBay “to see if anything pops up,” he said.

He said the dealership has already started putting wheel locks on all of its vehicles in hopes of preventing future thefts.