Majority of Dealership's Inventory Stolen in First Week of Business, Owner Says He 'Probably Won't Survive It'
A new car dealership in Philadelphia lost more than half a dozen cars to thieves in its first week in business, and now the owner says his business likely won’t be able to withstand the loss.
City Motors co-owner Nathan Kriegler told WPVI-TV that losing that many cars during his first week in business, in a town known for its rising crime, is a loss that is devastating.
“If we don’t recover the cars, we probably won’t survive it,” Kriegler said. “It could be the start and the end all in the same week.”
Kriegler added that not only did the car thieves drive off with seven of his cars, they also took the titles, giving them a better chance of turning the thefts into legal transfers.
Police are investigating the break-in and thefts, but since the business was so new, security cameras weren’t in place. https://t.co/mupotsvua5
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) September 28, 2023
Kriegler also said that an eighth auto was broken into and the wiring pulled out as thieves tried to hot-wire it. But they couldn’t get it started, so it was left behind.
The car dealer said that since he had only just opened, they had not yet installed the surveillance system, so the thieves got away totally clean of any video evidence.
He also got some very bad news from his insurance company.
“We called our insurance company today, and unfortunately, we only have liability insurance for the vehicles. So, if we don’t get the cars back, we have no coverage for the vehicles whatsoever,” Kriegler said.
The businessman also said that it looks like a major mistake to have opened a new business in Philadelphia.
“I think if I had the choice all over, I would not come to Philadelphia. I think a lot of people are feeling that way,” he said.
One small bright spot is that the police have already recovered three of the stolen vehicles, but there was some damage to them.
According to The Drive, the location Kriegler chose for his new business has a troubled history.
“The dealership’s location at the intersection of Frankford Avenue and Knorr Street has seen five different owners since 2015, with City Motors being the most recent to assume the location,” The Drive wrote.
The location is also in Philadelphia’s Mayfair neighborhood, which suffered a looting spree the same night the car dealer was hit.
Like many other deep-blue, Democrat-run cities in the U.S., Philly is being hit was a soaring crime rate. Last year the murder rate in Philly had climbed so fast that WTXF-TV noted that a city graveyard was literally covered in freshly dug graves filled by city residents killed by the rising gun crime. Fox News added that despite some of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation, Philly’s murder rate hit 340 homicides in 2022 alone.
Mr. Kriegler seems to have gotten the message that businesses are not welcome in Philadelphia. Even a company as big as Target is finding that out. Sadly, the same is true in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Detroit and other left-wing-led blue cities. And as long as the voters will put up with this, it will continue.
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