Screenshot: YouTube
If you’re going to steal a car that is that expensive, it’s probably best you have money to put gas in it. You know, so it can drive. Well apparently Israel Perez Rangel didn’t know that when he stole a 458 Spider.
It all kicked off when the 38-year-old thief took the Ferrari from an Orange County auto service after Eadweard York, whose girlfriend owned the vehicle, said that they had dropped the car to get serviced. But when he went to pick up the car the next day, it was gone.
“I was sitting there for about an hour … and then they come and say, ‘Sir, your car’s been stolen,'” York said. “It had been missing for nearly 27 hours before anyone even noticed it was stolen.”
Apparently Rangel literally just walked into the auto service, saw the keys inside the Ferrari and drove off with it. Pretty damn simple. Also simple? Getting gas. But that’s not something Rangel could handle.
By the time it was discovered at the gas station two weeks later, the car had been trashed. York described the damage, saying the underneath was “ripped to shred,” the paddle shifters had been torn out and the dashboard had also been “chopped.” Inside, the car was dirty and covered in vomit.
Police approached the alleged thief after he was asked for money to purchase the gas for the exotic car, the Los Angeles Times reported. He also didn’t appear to know how to put the gasoline in the vehicle.
“After running away from the vehicle, the suspect was arrested behind the bushes at the entrance to the Holiday Inn,” Santa Ana Police Department Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told the Times.
Good news for York’s girlfriend: she got a check from her insurance company and bought a new car, but not another Ferrari.
Bad news for Rangel: he was charged with vehicle theft, grand theft auto and vandalism, but he pleaded not guilty.
