A brazen car thief was caught on security footage dancing for the cameras as his two friends surveyed a parked car nearby.
Video shared online shows the three car thieves pulling up in an orange SUV to a group of parked cars on Viking Court in Cleveland, Ohio’s crime ridden Edgewater neighborhood.
Two of the men then approach one of the parked cars, while a third could be seen noticing Olivia Vogler’s security camera.
At that point, the unidentified man – who was wearing a puffer jacket, hat, mask and sweatpants – navigates around the car so that the camera could capture his entire form as he performed a short dance.
The men then climbed back into their vehicle and drove away, but Vogler told Storyful the three thieves wound up smashing the window of her friend’s car – along with the windows of six other vehicles in the area at around 4.30am on Saturday.
Her friend only noticed the damage when she walked to the car two hours later, Vogler said.
But around that time, neighbor Conchetta Riggi’s camera caught more individuals sizing up the even more vehicles and leaving behind a Kia that police now say was stolen, according to News 5 Cleveland.
Both Vogler and Riggi now say the car thief’s act is just more proof that the thieves know they will not be punished for their acts.
‘It’s not surprising,’ Vogler said of the dance. ‘They know they can be watched and there can be a camera and [they’re] not going to get caught.
An unidentified car thief was caught on surveillance footage performing a little dance for the security cameras as his friends surveyed nearby cars
The three thieves got back into an orange SUV and drove away, but wound up smashing the window of her friend’s car – along with the windows of six other vehicles in the area at around 4.30am on Saturday
‘They know if they do get caught, it’ll be a slap on the wrist and then they’ll be back to doing the same thing again.’
‘They know it doesn’t matter,’ she continued. ‘They probably want to be on the news and they want someone to see that.
‘It’s like a badge of honor for them,’ Vogler claimed.
Riggi added that the thief’s defiant act ‘shows that they don’t care and they think they’re not going to be caught.’
But for anything to change, Vogler said Cleveland city leaders have to change the laws.
‘I think it’s easy to point the finger at police and say they’re not doing anything or they don’t care, when they don’t have the resources and the higher-ups have tied their hands,’ she said.
‘The pressure needs to be on the mayor and the court system, and hopefully something will change.’
A spokesperson with Cleveland City Hall agreed in a statement to News 5 Cleveland that the ‘arrogance’ displayed in the video is appalling and must be met with the heavy hand of the law.
‘When you play dumb questions – in this instance, a date with a judge to face the consequences,’ he added, vowing that police are investigating the incident and ‘will follow up on leads as they come in.’
In the meantime, though, Riggi said she plans to buy a few more cameras.
‘What can you do?’ she asked, rhetorically.
‘If you were to try to say, “Get off my property” and get shot, there’s not a lot of things you can do other than call the police. But it’s too late by the time they get there,’ she lamented.
