Thieves waited for a valet at an upscale Midtown steakhouse to take a bathroom break before stealing the keys to a Range Rover, Channel 2 Action News reported.
They took the opportunity to pry open the valet’s key box with what appeared to be a crowbar, the valet company told the news station. When the valet returned, he realized what happened.
“He comes running in, saying someone broke into the key box and stole your car,” the owner of the Range Rover told Channel 2. The man, who is a hip-hop music executive from Florida, did not want to be identified.
The victim had just sat down to dinner at STK on Peachtree Street on Aug. 13 when he was told his custom 2016 SUV was stolen. He dropped it off with the valet not 30 minutes before, slipping the worker an extra $20 for a prime parking spot up front.
“I was just shocked,” the music executive said. “It seems almost unbelievable to me. Mind you, I eat at a lot of nice restaurants. I protect myself.”
As of Monday morning, police had not located the stolen Range Rover. A $90,000 Rolex watch left inside the vehicle has not been recovered, either.
The owner of the valet company, Refined Parking Solutions, told Channel 2 he believes the thieves were watching and waiting across the street, waiting for the moment to strike.
“While the valet was using the restroom, they saw that the key box was alone and they broke the key box,” Dilshan Singh said. “They took a crowbar or something of that nature and they stuck it in the middle and snapped it.”
No security cameras in the area captured the incident, according to police. Singh said the company is working to install their own cameras pointed at their lock boxes to deter future thefts.
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