Thieves Nab At Least 16 Wheels Off Cars at Honda Dealership in Overnight Heist
Honda’s wheels are literally flying off the lot these days.
At some point down the road, Honda employees will be able to look back at the inexplicable number of people stealing the wheels off their cars and laugh about how they made the rims just too dang nice. Unfortunately, that day is not today for the folks at Metro Honda in Monroe, North Carolina, where a crew of thieves pulled off a bold overnight heist on Monday and got away with at least 16 brand new wheels.
According to a news release from the Union County Sheriff's Office, employees arrived Tuesday morning to discover a "large" number of cars with shattered windows, and more than a few missing all four wheels. The pictures show at least three Honda Accords and one Pilot sitting forlornly on jacks, all with at least one window punched out. The total damage is still being added up, according to the report.
Some of you may be wondering why exactly Honda wheels are such hot targets for thieves. There appear to be a few reasons. To start, the bolt pattern is shared across several models and hasn't been changed in over a decade, meaning the new wheels fit a large range of older Hondas (and a lot of other cars). Throw them on an EM Civic and you've got yourself an aftermarket look on the cheap. Couple that with the fact that Accords and Civics themselves are among the most frequently stolen cars in the country, and you have a pretty significant black market for the newer factory rims.
Investigators currently don't have any leads, and they're asking anyone who spots a shady Craigslist ad trying to unload 16 OEM Honda wheels to call the local Crimestoppers line at 704-283-5600.
