YouTube star has £30k Porsche stolen by crooks who used it as battering ram in brazen petrol station raid

The Sun

2 days ago

A LUXURY Porsche was used as a battering ram by crooks in a brazen raid on a petrol station - just minutes after it was stolen from an MOT centre.
The SUV, which belongs to used car dealer Joe Betty - known for his YouTube channel Shifting Metal - was stolen from a site in Highbridge, Somerset, and then used in a ram raid on a nearby Asda.
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According to Car Dealer Mag, a group of men broke into the garage and took off with the Cayenne, as well as a Ford S-Max.
Both cars were then driven to an Asda petrol station, where they were used as battering rams in an attempt to get inside.
The Porsche, a high-end, V8 S Tiptronic S model from 2015 that's typically priced between £15,000 to £30,000, was purchased by Betty just days before the incident.
He'd even lined up a buyer for it and had taken a deposit when he'd sent it for an MOT test.
He said: 'I bought it from an auction on the Monday, we drove it back on the same day and incredibly it was one of those rare occasions in the motor trade where we'd taken a deposit and it was ready to go out when it was stolen on the Thursday night.
'We phoned the customer that morning, just letting them know.
'They are still trying to buy another car from us but it's finding the right car for them now, because it was a very nice spec model and had all the right things they wanted.
'I haven't seen it as it's currently at a recovery yard and I'm waiting to see what happens with the MOT centre and insurance.
'From what I could see [at the petrol station], it looked like it had lost engine oil.
"Some rumours I'd heard from a couple of different places was that it was left running.
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'If that's the case then the engine will be no good anymore.
'The back end of the car I haven't seen unfortunately, because the last time I saw it had an Asda Express parked on it but I can't imagine it's great.
'I think it would probably be salvageable if it weren't for the engine. It would certainly be thousands of pounds of work, I would guess.'
The damage occurred when the crooks reversed the Porsche into the main entrance of the store, before seemingly getting it stuck on a metal pillar.
Meanwhile, the Ford was smashed into a smaller unit outside the store.
The group later escaped the scene in a getaway vehicle which was on false plates.
According to Betty, police took DNA evidence at the scene, but he doubts the gang will be found.
He added: 'I think in the motor trade you kind of just get used to these weird and wonderful problems that you have.
'I'm quite nonchalant about it at the moment but I imagine, as it drags on and is just trickling in the background, it get more upsetting.
'It has made us think about our own security, I guess.
'We've had someone try to steal a car from the forecourt before. They smashed the window of a Fiesta ST, but set the alarm off and ran away but that's about it, really.
'We've been quite lucky up until now, in a sense but this has definitely tipped the scale.
'The police are working on it, but other than perhaps getting some DNA, which they've taken swabs from the scene, I don't think they've got much to go on, because everyone was wearing masks and the getaway car was on cloned plates.
'The footage that we had of them cutting into the MOT centre, they were so nonchalant about it that I think this is not their first rodeo.
'They've done it before and I don't think there's much hope of conviction coming to be honest.'
A spokesperson for Somerset and Avon Police said: ''At 3.44am on Friday 23 May we received a report of a group of men trying to force entry to a building off the A371 in Locking.
'Officers arrived five minutes later and found the group had left the area after damaging the building.
'Officers carried out a search of the area, supported by a specialist dog team, but no one was located.
'A black Porsche Cayenne and a grey Ford S-Max were found damaged at the scene. Both vehicles are believed to have been stolen during a burglary in Commerce Way, Highbridge earlier in the night.
'The group of men are believed to have left the area in a blue Audi Q5. They were wearing black clothing and balaclavas.
'Anyone with information is asked to call 101, using the reference number 5225143650.'