Museum’s Porsche 911 Turbo Recovered After Thief Registered With Salvage VIN
An anonymous caller tipped off the Sarasota Police Department after seeing the 930 at a warehouse.
I'm no car theft expert but I have a feeling that registering a high-profile classic you just stole from a nearby museum is a bad idea. Fortunately for the folks at the Sarasota Car Museum, the person suspected of taking its rare 1977 3.0-liter Porsche 911 Turbo—36-year-old Daniel Boyce—wasn't so clever. Boyce registered the 911 using a VIN from a wrecked '76 911 just a week after allegedly stealing it, only to be arrested a month later.
An alarm was tripped at the museum, which was in the process of being forced out by a local state college, early in the morning on June 14. Police found signs of forced entry and some shuffled cars, as the thief seemingly moved some other cars around to get the 911 out. Since the museum kept the Porsche's keys in the driver-side footwell, the car was simply driven out.
Martin Godbey, owner and curator of the Sarasota Car Museum, told The Drive that this was the first time that a car was stolen from the museum in 70 years.
According to CBS12, a few days after Boyce allegedly stole the 911 Turbo, the museum received an anonymous call claiming to have seen Boyce with a brown 911 that matched the stolen car's description at a warehouse. The museum told the police, who then began investigating Boyce and found out that he registered a brown '76 911 under the LLC Triton Engineering on June 21. Police then traced the VIN Boyce used back to a 911 that had been crashed 23 years ago and sold to a California salvage yard, later arresting him on July 21.
Thankfully, the museum got its Porsche back in one piece. The 911 Turbo in question is said to be valued at around $250,000, which means Boyce faces felony charges of grand theft auto and scheming to defraud (over $50,000). He's being held without bond in Sarasota County Jail and detectives think there may be more victims in the case.
Got tips? Send 'em to tips@thedrive.com
