Man breaks into Salt Lake dealership, steals SUV


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SALT LAKE CITY — Police arrested a man Saturday after he allegedly broke into a car dealership and caused several thousands of dollars in damage ramming his way out of the building in a stolen vehicle.

Jonah Matthias Antosch, 21, who recently moved from Illinois, is suspected of breaking into the Jerry Seiner dealership, 1530 S. 500 West, about 4 a.m. He then drove an SUV out of the building, ramming it through a set of doors and smashing through an iron fence out front, said Salt Lake Police Lt. Scott White.

Video surveillance shows Antosch entering the locked dealership and getting into a customer's vehicle that was in the dealership's maintenance bay, a Salt Lake County Jail report states.

"Jonah started the vehicle and backed the vehicle into one of the large garage doors, damaging that garage door. Jonah then put the car in drive and floored the car and crashed through the other garage door, damaging that door, also," the report states. "Once outside, Jonah drove through a fence and another metal post."

White said a witness reported seeing Antosch "driving erratically" and he was pulled over by police a few blocks from the dealership at 1430 S. 900 West.

Antosch was alone in the vehicle, had a "heavy smell of alcohol on his breath," and failed field sobriety tests, according to the report. He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of burglary, auto theft, criminal mischief, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with an expired driver's license. He was being held on $1,525 bail.

The rampage caused an initial estimate of $30,000 in damages, police said. A specific motivation for the crime was not immediately apparent, according to White, "other than he obviously wanted to steal a car."

A check of court records shows no Utah criminal history for Antosch.

Contributing: Brianna Bodily

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