They were stolen one or several at a time by reputed local gang members and some were used to commit other crimes
Infiniti of South Bay and Nissan of South Bay have a storage lot where they keep some 500 cars in Torrance, California. Of those cars in storage there, both Inifinitis and Nissans, 42 examples were swiped over a period of just as many days by several gang-affiliated criminals in the area.
After this was discovered, police set out to recover the stolen cars, of which 25 have already been returned. The cops also apprehended a total of 15 people directly connected to the thefts, but they suggest many more are actually involved.
Barry Wishengrad, managing general partner of Infiniti of South Bay and Nissan of South Bay, said “they thought it was easy pickins,” and that because they didn’t figure it out until many cars had already gone missing, “it kind of was for awhile.”
He noted that “every night they were stealing a car or two, and then they got a little more brazen and they started stealing quite a few more," adding that because a lot stock check took 7 to 10 days to complete, “it made it very difficult to notice.”
Now the police is after the remaninder of thieves which they hope to catch and return all of the stolen cars as well.
via KTLA