Ali Sobh’s McLaren was taken from the driveway behind his home in Detroit’s Boston-Edison neighborhood. The next time he saw it, someone else was spinning it in circles in front of a crowd. Sobh is a Detroit businessman with 1.1 million social media followers. He told WDIV the car is worth $500,000 and that no one else in the country owns its color. He called it a collector’s car. clickondetroit
What bothered him more than the theft was the show. “Being paraded around, it’s like nobody can do nothing to us,” Sobh told the station. clickondetroit
Tips From 1.1 Million Followers Pointed Police to Six Mile and Telegraph
Sobh used the video to go looking for the car. He asked his audience for help locating the vehicle. After receiving tips, Sobh gave Detroit police a possible location near Six Mile and Telegraph. Officers recovered the car there. That corner is on Detroit’s western edge, where Telegraph Road forms the line with Redford Township. WDIV reported the recovery on Nov. 9. Neither WDIV report gives the date of the theft or the recovery. clickondetroit
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In the station’s Nov. 10 follow-up, the takeover footage is part of a police investigation, and Detroit police are working to identify and find those responsible for the theft. The article reports no arrests or charges. Detroit Police Commander Phillip Rodriguez told WDIV the department wants residents to feel that they and their property are safe. clickondetroit
My read is that the paint that made this car worth stealing also made it nearly impossible to profit from. If Sobh is right that no other McLaren in the country wears this color, the car can’t be sold, retitled, or parted out without someone recognizing it. Whoever had it drove it into the one setting most likely to get it identified: a takeover, where a crowd films everything. The same phones that put the McLaren online helped bring it home.
What Michigan Law Says About Whoever Had the Car
Two Michigan statutes come into play once police name a suspect, and the second one carries a cost most takeover regulars wouldn’t guess…