Police investigating strange 3rd-row seat thefts


3 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — When it comes to vacations, Southern California is a popular destination spot for Utah families. And if you've ever driven I-15 south to Disneyland or the beach, it's not a bad drive, especially in an SUV.

Turns out, quite a few of those SUVs are getting broken into. But the thieves aren't looking for your wallet, purse or electronics; they want your back seat, and it's costing people thousands of dollars.

John Lewis and Bart Goldsberry found that out the hard way. Both took their families to Disneyland over Thanksgiving, both stayed on Disney property at the Paradise Pier Hotel, bnd both had their SUVs broken into in the middle of the night while parked in the hotel's parking garage.

"The entire third row seats were gone," said Lewis. "I looked around and iPads were there, movies were there, coats and everything were still there in the car, but the seats were missing."

"When we had it investigated, the first thing the police officer said is why didn't I lock my seats," said Goldsberry. "I had no idea what he was even talking about."

While it might be unheard of here in Utah, it's not an uncommon crime in Southern California. Police say thieves target SUVs with back seats that can be removed easily, like older model Chevy Suburbans or Tahoes and GMC Yukons. They use a tool, like a screwdriver, to pop the back window without setting off the alarm, crawl in, remove the seats and pass them back out the window in no time at all.

"When you're there in the crisis and you're just worried about your family, trying to get them out of this hotel and this experience, it's incredibly frustrating," said Lewis.

Both families were left scrambling, trying to replace their seats before driving back to Utah. When they called California dealerships, they realized they were not the only victims.

"He told me it was his third one in five days at that dealership alone to have their seats replaced," said Goldsberry.

"He asked us, 'You wouldn't happen to be staying at a Disneyland hotel would you?'" said Lewis. "'You're the sixth person this month to call from a Disneyland hotel asking for replacement seats.'"

Both families eventually found seats, but it cost them each $2,000.

Anaheim police have been tracking these crimes for the past five years. They say it's a highly skilled, organized operation, and the crooks are creating their own black market.

"For a person to get a replacement from a dealer, it's about $3,000, and they sell them for half or less on Craigslist or eBay," said Sgt. Daron Wyatt with the Anaheim Police Department.

With that in mind, the KSL Investigators began the search for stolen seats; first, acting the part of an interested buyer through text messages, then flying to Los Angeles with hidden cameras to meet up with the sellers.

We met the first seller, "Ricky," in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. He opened his trunk to display a pair of gray, cloth seats.

"Are these the only ones you got?" asked KSL Investigator Mike Headrick.

"Yeah, the only ones," said Ricky.

Photo: KSL-TV
Photo: KSL-TV

But if you take a look at our text conversation leading up to the meeting, Ricky asked what color and what fabric Headrick was interested in, clearly indicating he may have more than one set of seats.

"Do you have leather ones at all?" asked Headrick again.

"Um, no. Not right now," said Ricky. "No I don't."

But according to his Craigslist account, that's simply not true. Ricky was advertising leather seats, selling for the same $450 as the cloth ones.

"My concern is if they're stolen, because I've heard that happens a lot and I don't want to get something that's hot," said Headrick.

"Nah, they're not hot man," said Ricky. "They're … they're not."

KSL Investigators also took our undercover cameras across town to meet up with another seller, "Bobby," who had an interesting story to tell about his seats.

"So when we traded in the truck, we kept them," Bobby told Headrick.

"They let you keep them?" asked Headrick.

"They didn't know it had the third-row seat. They didn't ask for them," answered Bobby. "They didn't care."

Bobby claims he sold his Tahoe to a dealership, took out the third-row seat and kept it for no particular reason. He said the dealership didn't know it had a third-row seat, didn't ask for the seat, and apparently didn't care.

But one more thing, Bobby brought the wrong set of seats to the meeting with KSL Investigators. He was supposed to bring leather seats, like the one he advertised on Craigslist, but he pulled a set of cloth seats out of his trunk instead.

At face value, there's really no way of knowing whether Ricky and Bobby were trying to unload stolen seats, but the reality is, it's happening more than you think.

In October, deputies in Santa Clarita served a search warrant and arrested a man with 44 stolen third rows seats.

There are some things you can do to prevent your third-row seat from being stolen: buy a lock made specifically to secure your back seats, invest in an alarm system that triggers if your back window is opened, or simply back into a parking space so thieves can't easily access your back window.

Photos

Related links

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Mike Headrick

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast