North Alabama gets a visit from the Raines Brothers

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ARAB, Ala. (WAFF) - Law enforcement is on high alert for car thieves after two North Alabama dealerships were burglarized in one week.

Employees with North Country Ford in Arab confirmed eight cars were stolen this week totaling $1.2 million.

“When you start doing the mathematics of how much money it’s costing to replace, not only the vehicles, but the keys themselves, it’s incredible,” General Sales Manager Nick Dukes said.

Dealership employees and Arab Police believe the thieves targeted the most expensive vehicles in the dealership.

“It’s the highest of the highest end,” Dukes said. “They’re not going for [Lamborghini’s] because a lot of dealerships around here don’t have them, but it seems like they’re able to get in our dealerships. They know exactly what they’re doing.”

Dukes believes the thieves broke into the service bay window and stole 300 keys from the key vault to steal eight vehicles.

Normally, he said this would have been caught on the dealership’s security cameras, but he said the thieves are professionals.

“It looks like they were able to tap into our IP address, and were able to shut the cameras down,” he said.

The work of the thieves caught Police Chief Shane Washburn’s attention.

“I’ve been here for 24 years, and I’ve never seen something this sophisticated,” he said. “With most burglars, you have a broken widow, a door that’s been pried open, and a couple of vehicles stolen. With the sophisticated nature of this one, it’s unusual. It’s a bit alarming.”

Police said there is no reason to believe a dealership employee is behind the break-in.

Since information was released by North Country Ford, two of the eight stolen vehicles were located.

This wasn’t the only break-in at a North Alabama dealership in the last week. Fort Payne Police officials say thieves stole four cars worth a total of $300,000 from Landers McLarty Ford last week.

A manager at Landers McLarty Ford told WAFF 48 those cars were equipped with a tracking system, but the thieves were able to disable it.