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Crime & Safety

Car Reported Stolen Was in Neutral, Rolled Away

Inside the Police Report: A man reported his car stolen, but it had actually rolled out of sight because it was in neutral.

A Lilburn man called police July 6 to report his car was stolen, but it had actually rolled out of view. 

The 40-year-old man drove to the Shell gas station on the 4000 block of Five Forks-Trickum Road at 5 p.m. and told police that he parked his vehicle, a 2007 Toyota Tacoma, and took out the key. He went inside the convenience store and came back about three minutes later, he told police, only to find his car gone.

According to the police report, the man didn't notice anyone suspicious-looking near his vehicle. In the surveillance tape, a blue Toyota Tundra pulled up next to his vehicle, and 10 to 15 seconds later the victim's car was gone.

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The video didn't show the victim's entire vehicle, though; it only showed the car leaving the gas station. 

Two hours after the stealth was reported, the Tacoma was found down an embankment across the street from the Shell, abandoned. The vehicle, which was 50 to 75 feet from the road, had its doors locked, but the wheels moved when the wrecker pulled the vehicle out of the embankment.

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The car's gear was in neutral. 

Police determined that the vehicle had rolled down the sloped driveway of the Shell gas station, crossed five lanes of traffic, and stopped in the embankment.  

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