---
title: "Car Thief Steals Woman’s Jeep Wrangler, Leaves Nissan Rogue in Her Parking Spot"
description: "That's... that's not the same thing."
date: "2017-08-13"
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/13455/car-thief-steals-womans-jeep-wrangler-leaves-nissan-rogue-in-her-parking-spot"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Car Theft"
  - "Crime"
  - "Illinois"
  - "Jeep"
  - "Jeep Wrangler"
  - "nissan rogue"
  - "police"
  - "stolen"
---

# Car Thief Steals Woman’s Jeep Wrangler, Leaves Nissan Rogue in Her Parking Spot

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/08/jeep-3.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

A car thief with a cruel sense of humor swiped a woman's 2002 Jeep Wrangler on Thursday morning, taking off with the rugged 4x4 and leaving a dinky 2010 Nissan Rogue in its place, [according to the *News-Gazette.*](<https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2017-08-11/update-monticello-car-thief-leaves-stolen-loaner-victim.html>) And in a truly random turn of events, the stolen Jeep was later abandoned on a set of railroad tracks and struck by a two-mile-long freight train.

The owner of the Wrangler reportedly parked it outside the Monticello Township Cemetery in central Illinois and took a short walk at around 10am on Thursday. When she was finished, she was understandably surprised to see the Jeep gone and the silver crossover in its place.

A [Nissan Rogue](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/4506/the-nissan-rogue-is-the-extra-value-meal-of-crossovers>) is a fine enough CUV if you're into that sort of thing, but it's safe to say that anyone driving a [Jeep Wrangler](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/13264/2018-jeep-wrangler-jl-details-leaked>) probably is not. She called police, who ran the plates on the Rogue and discovered that it had been stolen in Kansas earlier this month.

As Piatt County Sheriff's Office searched for the Jeep, firefighters in Dyer, Indiana [responded to a Friday morning call](<https://abc7chicago.com/traffic/2-mile-freight-train-jeep-collide-in-dyer/2296242/>) about a vehicle being struck by a train. When they arrived, they discovered the Wrangler had been hit by a two-mile-long freight train and dragged over a quarter mile. It doesn't look totally destroyed in the aerial shots, but it can't be in the best shape after that ordeal.

First responders combed the area for any victims who might have been thrown from the wreckage, but with none found authorities say it's likely the car was simply abandoned on the tracks. Wherever the thief is, all we want to know is the thinking behind the Nissan-Jeep swap.

## 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/>)