It was like a scene from the Nicolas Cage action film “Gone In 60 Seconds” — only this one took half the time.
A man is wanted by police after allegedly being seen on camera stealing a car from right under the driver’s nose at a New Jersey gas station.
The suspect could be seen getting out of the back of a white BMW with Pennsylvania license plates. The SUV was parked just feet from pump No. 4 at a gas station off Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank.
At that pump, a gas attendant was seen filling up another car, with the driver out of the car and his back turned.
Security camera footage showed the lengths the thief then goes to get in the car, as he slowly dropped to the ground and crawled on all fours to carefully open the door on the driver’s side.
Within seconds, he jumped inside — right as the car’s owner noticed what was happened. The suspect slammed the car door before the driver could get back inside. The two tussle for a few seconds as the driver gets the door back open, video shows, but he is seen backing off quickly at one point, hopping away.
Police said the victim, who is from Middletown, backed away from the car because he feared the suspect might have had a weapon.
The suspect took off right after that. Police were calling on the public to help identify the suspect, hear from anyone who might recognize the white SUV or know where the stolen car ended up.
The brazen crime came only days after Gov. Phil Murphy announced car thefts were down 11% in 2024, thanks in part to a newly-formed auto theft task force. The Red Bank police chief said his department had been in contact with that task force.
