If there’s anything we hate more than anything, it’s a thief. Scurrying scumbags and idiots who think that they deserve someone else’s hard work for free, the lot of ’em, and they’ve been busy this year targeting SEMA. A Jeep Wrangler and Ford Explorer customized by pediatric cancer patients for the Austin Hatcher Foundation were stolen, stripped, and left in the Tennessee woods. Seriously? Kids suffering with cancer worked on those vehicles and some dreg of society decided they needed it more? I hope they get their comeuppance when they get thrown into gen pop, personally. Then there’s the one-off Frankenstein Engine Dynamics “Freakshow” intake that managed to grow legs overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday that police are trying to track down right now. But the big story of the show was the theft, pursuit, and recovery of the Quintin Brothers’ Dodge Challenger Scat Pack that was meant to go into the ProCharger booth.
A few days before SEMA, the Challenger was in a trailer at a hotel, hooked up to the truck that hauled it down from Vermont. Enter 33-year-old Jesse Grano. While the delivery driver was resting up, Grano used a stolen truck to get to the hitch of the trailer, freed everything up, and hauled off into the night with a 1,000 horsepower SEMA build that he proceeded to drive around Las Vegas with. The trailer was found in short order, but the Challenger was a little more elusive. Twice the car was spotted, twice the car was chased. But it’s the second chase that has garnered a lot of attention. After being spotted in the parking garage of the Rio casino by Nevada Highway Patrol, Grano shoved the Challenger through the Nevada Highway Patrol Ford Explorer cruiser of Trooper Adam Whitmarsh before entering a pursuit that saw speeds over 150 miles an hour that was ultimately called off for public safety. But with the damage done by pushing past the SUV and the knowledge that the police were coming for him no matter what, Grano ditched the Challenger in a different parking lot and hopped a bus. He was later apprehended and is now facing a boatload of charges, including battery with a deadly weapon on a police officer, felony eluding, possession of a stolen vehicle and numerous misdemeanor charges. At the time of his arrest, he was wanted for attempted murder with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, and 3 counts of child neglect. So long, sucker!
Photo: Quintin Brothers Auto and Performance, via Facebook
After a fast-tracked processing by the authorities, the Challenger wound up center-stage in ProCharger’s booth, still wrapped in yellow tape, still filled with some of the garbage that the moron left behind, with the front clip battered, some of the stickers on the back window hastily scraped off, and plenty of road dust all over it. It wasn’t the prettiest machine on display, but without a doubt, it was the most infamous and the story that this car now has just adds to it’s overall awesome vibe that the owner will get when the Challenger is returned to it’s proper glory!
A bullet to the back of his head, upon apprehension, would have been justice in this case.
I’d prefer stoning, charge a buck per rock and donate it to whatever charity makes you feel good
I like the stoning idea. Until we make the punishment greater than the gain or thrill of the crime we are going to continue to have more people in prison than any other country in the world .
Really? It is just a car.
really dominic haasen it is not your car .
You’re such a dick! You work for the money and spend the time building a car like that and then tell me it’s just a car you POS!
And your just a Piece of Shit Dominic Haasen.
Public hanging .I’m telling ya bring it back. Most for the 2 found in Tenn.
Before we lost our collective minds, and became “civilized”, horse thievery was a hanging offense. A man’s car is the contemporary equivalent of a man’s horse. It provides transportation and his livelihood just the same as a horse used to. I say public hanging for car thieves (and anything north of that too!) Is the solution to that problem. And before any of the bed wetting, hand wringing, commie libs start the propaganda about “It’s not a deterrent”: The hell it aint! At least one thief won’t be reoffending. I’ll settle for that.
\”It\’s just a car\”
That\’s NOT the point, cupcake.
Sure, when you\’re 5 years old and some asswipe smashes your first sandcastle… thats just a sandcastle.
But then as you GROW UP, some delinquent steals you new bike… the one mom saved every penny she had just so she could see your face light up Christmas day.
Whether you have a team of people, or just yourself, putting 1000\’s of hours of time into planning and building something really special… it\’s no longer JUST a this or that.
It\’s the product of their ambition, drive, imagination, creativity, resourcefulness, hard work and livelihood… not to mention the sacrifice of all that quality time that might otherwise be spent with family, friends and loved ones. In other words, its literall their Life, and what they do to put food on the table, clothes and shoes on their kids feet
You can\’t just dismiss those things with a passing notion that theft doesn\’t physically harm anyone.
Just a car. Just a horse. Just a bike. Hmmph
I could say your parents were just a couple of bored criminals looking for some action when they made YOU.
So who cares what happens to You…
It\’s just a person, gah!