Kansas City 4Runner Owner Recovers Car From Sloppy Thieves
A ‘two-second’ trip into a convenience store turns into a 48-hour manhunt for one woman and her stolen Toyota.
There’s nothing worse for any Toyota owner than to find their beloved ride gone because of heartless thieves. Your only hope is the police recover your Tacoma or 4Runner in one piece, or at least in running condition, if only for your insurance to cash it out in a claim.
For one woman in Kansas City, Missouri, though, she took matters into her own hands in tracking down and recovering her stolen 4Runner. Kansas City CBS affiliate KCTV-TV reports the whole affair began with a quick visit to a QuikTrip.
“’Did I park somewhere else? No. I know I parked here. Somebody stole my car!’ And it was all downhill from there,” said Danielle Reno. “I got out of my car, grabbed my daughter, and my car was gone.”
After filing a report with the police over the 4Runner, though, she decided to tackle the case herself with her daughter. How? Turned out that the thieves were also using her phone and credit and debit cards to do what thieves do best. Thanks to the power of linked apps, though, Reno could begin working on retrieving her Toyota.
“Finding [the thief] was like finding a lost dog,” Reno told local NBC affiliate KSHB-TV. “But humans are more stupid and she did a lot of dumb things and it made it easier to find her. We were on her case.”
The trail stopped at another convenience store before Reno headed over to the nearby Applebee’s, where one of the thieves, Lindsey Custer, walked across the street to the liquor store. While she did that, Reno, with her spare key, snatched back her 4Runner, then drove away before calling the police to let them know what all went down. Even cooler, she documented the entire ordeal on her Facebook page!
“We were very careful not to put ourselves in danger, but it was my car, not hers,” Reno told KSHB-TV. “It was all of my things in it. There were a lot of sentimental things inside the car as well. And when I get that upset, there is no stopping me or my friends.”
While Custer will be charged for criminal tampering (the second time in nine days, per KSHB-TV) and receiving stolen goods, Reno’s 4Runner may be as good as gone, anyway. Her video on Facebook shows the Toyota’s interior is trashed and reeks of sloppy thief, prompting her to call it a loss. We think a local detailer could fix the issue, though.
Big props to Danielle Reno for being such an awesome avenging angel!
Photos: Danielle Reno Facebook, KCTV-TV
Join the YotaTech forums now!
