Tow truck caught on video stealing car from right outside Southeast Side auto body shop

CHICAGO (CBS) — It would be hard to believe if there weren’t video – a tow truck driver was caught stealing a car right from an auto body shop recently.

As CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar reported, the owner of an auto repair shop in Chicago’s East Side neighborhood said a customer’s car was stolen in seconds by the tow truck.

The car was lifted from a parking spot in front of Raul’s Auto Service, 10558 S. Avenue N. It was all captured on camera.

Meanwhile, as De Mar was out front talking to owner Raul Alvarado, he was stopped by another victim who says his car was also towed away in the middle of the night. 

It took less than 20 seconds for someone driving a black sport-utility vehicle with an attached wheel lift to back up, hook a Prius, and drive off.

“They use those trucks for repos, but there was no repo here. That was a customer’s car,” Alvarado said. “They’re going to put it in the chop shop – they do to those cars. I mean, they do recycling – the cars – for parts converters – all that stuff.”

The stolen car belonged to Alvarado’s customers. He says the car was swiped Sunday morning from outside his shop, but police weren’t called until he realized the car was gone Monday morning.

“The police have said in this neighborhood that they’ve been stealing a lot of those cars with those trucks,” Alvarado said.

And as we were talking to Alvarado, we met a man named Ralph Carrasco, who says his parked car was stolen the same way last week from outside his house – just blocks from the auto repair shop.

“They picked it up and took off, and I haven’t seen it since,” Carrasco said. “When we catch them, it’s going to be over for them.”

Both victims claim they don’t owe any money for their cars.

Meanwhile, security footage appears to show the black truck that stole the car from outside Raul’s did not have any license plates.

The that you saw take off with the car did not have any rear license plates that were visible on the security cameras.