Caught on camera: Thief steals car keys from dealership, but "they're of no use"

BROOKFIELD -- A brazen thief may believe he got away with the perfect crime at a Brookfield car dealership. But that couldn't be further from the truth.

Schlossmann's Dodge City

"We got a video, all the way from when he got out of the car. There's cameras everywhere," said Tom Wendland, Sales Manager at Schlossmann's Dodge City.

The cameras caught an unidentified man showing up at Schlossmann's before 7 a.m. on Tuesday, December 8th.

Wendland explains, the Brookfield dealership's service area opens at 7 a.m. -- and while the sales floor is not open until 8:30 a.m., customers are allowed to wander.

Schlossmann's Dodge City

The unidentified man does plenty of wandering, spending nearly two hours walking amongst the vehicles and making four trips to the customer service desk -- where he appears to be getting a feel for a motorcycle.

Schlossmann's Dodge City

"He was nosing around, looking through drawers and eventually found out where there was some keys for cars," said Wendland.

During his last pass, you can see the man reach into a drawer and pull out a ring of keys to showroom cars and trucks. After selecting keys to five higher-value vehicles, the man leaves the dealership.

Schlossmann's Dodge City

Wendland is not worried.

"The keys that they took -- they're of no use. We'll just put it that way," said Wendland.

But perhaps the suspect should be worried -- as part of the police investigation involves pulling prints from the motorcycle the man handled.

Meanwhile, the dealership is dealing differently.

"There won't be any keys around here anymore that anyone's going to find," said Wendland.

A picture of the suspect appears to show a studded cross on the back of his black leather jacket. Police also point out the getaway vehicle in this case is described as a newer model, dark-colored Toyota Camry or Avalon with an Illinois dealer license plate.

If you have any information which may help investigators, you are encouraged to contact the Brookfield Police Department.