---
title: "Maryland Car Thief Caught by Owner After Getting Stuck In Parking Garage Exit"
description: "Crime doesn't pay, especially if you're bad at it."
date: "2017-08-12"
modified: "2017-08-14"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/13447/maryland-car-thief-caught-by-owner-after-getting-stuck-in-parking-garage-exit"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Car Theft"
  - "Crime"
  - "Fail"
  - "Maryland"
---

# Maryland Car Thief Caught by Owner After Getting Stuck In Parking Garage Exit

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/08/gettyimages-166304689.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

A man attempting to steal a 2016 Mercedes-Benz E350 from an underground parking garage in Maryland on Friday morning had it all figured out. Everything except the correct location of the exit ramp, that is.

David Loring was just starting his day when we walked downstairs to retrieve his car and realized it wasn't where he thought he'd parked it, [according to the *Washington Post*.](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/would-be-car-thief-drives-wrong-way-in-mercedes-cant-get-out-of-parking-garage/2017/08/11/9f4dde00-7ed6-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html?utm_term=.6bef1cc8e235>) He decided to walk around the garage in case he was [just being absent-minded,](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/12752/dude-theres-your-car-internet-helps-teen-find-car-after-he-forgets-where-he-parked>) and lo and behold he found it—driving in the wrong direction toward a one-way entrance.

"Why is my car going the wrong way?" Loring told the *Post* he remembers thinking. "And why is this guy behind the wheel?"

Of course, a split second later he realized his car was being stolen. Fortunately though, the thief continued the wrong way up the entry ramp and was stopped by a gate that needed to be triggered by coming in from the street. That's when Loring ran up and confronted the man, shouting "What are you doing in my car?"

The man reportedly put on a less-than-Oscar-winning performance in a bid to talk his way out of it, pretending the Mercedes belonged to his wife and faking a phone call.

"Let me call my wife. This is her car," Loring claimed the thief said as he held a phone to his ear. "Honey..."

When that didn't work, the man simply got out and walked away, leaving Loring to call both the police and his wife to explain why he was going to be delayed.

The Rockville City Police Department [confirmed the report](<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/would-be-car-thief-drives-wrong-way-in-mercedes-cant-get-out-of-parking-garage/2017/08/11/9f4dde00-7ed6-11e7-a669-b400c5c7e1cc_story.html?utm_term=.6bef1cc8e235>) to the *Washington Post* and added that it's pretty unusual to see an attempted car theft in a busy [parking garage](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/13422/video-shows-car-plunge-7-stories-off-parking-garage-narrowly-miss-suv>) during morning rush hour. But given that the man was apparently defeated by a one-way ramp and a flimsy plastic gate, he likely wasn't the most organized or prepared thief in the world to begin with.

Loring told the *Post* that the Mercedes is undamaged, but the thief swiped about seven dollars and two packs of Marlboro Lights from the center console.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)