A 13-year-old Pontiac boy has been arrested for the third time in two years after Oakland County deputies say he broke into a used-car dealership, stole a vehicle and tried unsuccessfully to ram a Charger through a security gate before the stolen vehicle was used to ram a gate at another dealership over the weekend. The teen was taken into custody less than 24 hours after investigators opened the case.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the boy had already been arrested twice before for stealing vehicles, and this latest arrest marks his third run-in with deputies over car thefts. The office said the Oakland County Auto Theft Task Force was investigating a string of vehicle thefts, business break-ins and attempted auto thefts across Pontiac and Waterford Township over the weekend when the case broke open.
Deputies say the trouble started with forced entry at a used-car dealership on Cesar Chavez Avenue in Pontiac, where a heavily damaged Dodge Charger and a stolen Dodge Dart were later found on the lot. Investigators allege the suspect took several sets of vehicle keys from inside the building, stole the Dart from the dealership lot, and tried to ram the Charger through a security gate — but the Charger reportedly couldn’t fit through and was damaged in the attempt.
A Second Dealership, A Second Gate
The stolen Dart didn’t stay in Pontiac. Deputies say the suspect then drove it to a dealership in Waterford Township, where it was used to ram through another gate at that location. Two additional vehicles were damaged during what deputies described as unsuccessful attempts to steal them, part of a pattern the sheriff’s office says involved both completed thefts and failed break-in attempts that left several vehicles and gates damaged.
The 13-year-old was identified as a suspect and arrested less than a day after the investigation began, according to the sheriff’s office.
A Pattern the Sheriff’s Office Has Flagged Before
This is not the first time Oakland County investigators have described a young repeat offender behind local vehicle thefts. In a separate case, a 12-year-old Pontiac boy was accused of helping steal three Chevrolet Silverados — two of them towing trailers — from Elowsky Lawn Services in Waterford, with the trucks and trailers valued at a combined $90,000, per a related report from wxyz.com. That report noted the 12-year-old suspect had previously been arrested for stealing seven vehicles from local businesses, including one he sold for just $30.
The lawn-care case also involved alleged vehicle thefts by a youth targeting a local business in and around Pontiac. The two cases involved alleged vehicle thefts involving youths and local businesses in and around Pontiac.
Vehicle theft involving teenagers has surfaced elsewhere in Southeast Michigan in recent years, though the details and scale vary widely. Police in Warren arrested five people, including four teens, in August 2024 in connection with an alleged attempt to steal $500,000 worth of vehicles, according to a CBS News Detroit report.
