On May 1, 2020, Officers of the Merced Police Department responded to Auto Center Drive for the theft of motor vehicle tires and wheels from vehicles on the car lots.

Representatives of the dealerships reported that seven vehicles at Merced Honda and four vehicles at Merced Toyota had the tires and wheels stolen between 1:00 AM and about 3:30 AM the morning of May 1st.

While the investigation is ongoing, it appears that several suspects arrived at the car lots and worked for several hours to steal the tires, eventually rolling the tires and loading the stolen items into a rented U-Hual van.

There is extensive video being reviewed by investigators to check for investigative leads into the theft.

Representatives of the auto dealerships have estimated the loss and damage to the vehicles to be in excess of $45,000.

A black truck is seen in the area and may have been involved in the theft. Investigators are asking anyone who may know the owner of the truck to contact the Police Department.

Merced Police are asking anyone with any information regarding this crime to contact Detective Radke at 209 388-7725 or the Merced Police Department Tipster Line at (209) 385-4725.

The public can send information via anonymous text messages to police department by dialing “TIP411” (847411) and including the word “Comvip” as the “keyword” in the text message.