Milwaukee car thieves caused 'a lot of destruction for 1 vehicle,' owner says

MILWAUKEE - For a group of Milwaukee car thieves, getting into their target Kia wasn’t much of a problem, but getting out of the lot was. Surveillance shows their dedication left quite a bit of destruction.

"It looked like a demolition derby had taken place here at the lot," said George Antzoulatos, owner of Badger Auto Shop near 59th and Appleton. "It’s a loss of hours, a loss of time, and on a crappy, rainy day like today, you don’t want to have this happen. It’s depressing."

Antzoulatos said he came in early Tuesday, Oct. 25 to find four cars on the lot damaged and one gone.

"It didn’t seem like they were afraid to get caught," said Antzoulatos. "I think a lot of that has to do with the way the law works and how people are prosecuted after stealing a vehicle. Maybe the laws aren’t harsh enough."

From the security footage from around 2 a.m., four people appear to be involved. They were able to quickly get into the shop’s Kia Optima, but the exit route wasn’t as simple.

"Right here, we’ve got young individuals deciding how and which way they’re going to move the blocker truck off the lot so they can steal the Kia," said Antzoulatos.

With cars and concrete barriers lining the lot, the footage shows the driver of the stolen Kia hit other cars.

Eventually, after about 45 minutes, the driver rammed into and moved a large truck meant to block the exit and entrance.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

"There you go," said Antzoulatos. "A lot of destruction for one vehicle, but they got it."

Antzoulatos acknowledges they were driven.

"They were very dedicated in doing what they were doing, and I admire that but I wish they would put that skill toward something else, maybe working a good job or something like that," said Antzoulatos. 

He said he wants to see that same kind of determination go toward finding a solution.

"Let’s start keeping tabs on where our children are in the wee hours of the morning," said Antzoulatos. 

Police said they’re looking into this.

The shop owner suspects the people in the video are teens, but it's tough to tell.

As of Tuesday, police said no arrests had been made.

Anyone with information was asked to contact MPD or Crime Stoppers.