Troopers look for 2 suspected of stealing cars from dealerships during test drives

AUBURN, Wash. — A man and a woman are accused of carjacking vehicles from dealerships during test drives in South King County, according to the Washington State Patrol (WSP).

The most recent armed robbery took place on Sept. 13 at Worldwide Auto Group in Auburn. According to the WSP, a man and a pregnant woman scheduled a test drive with the dealership. While on the test drive with an employee, the pregnant woman claimed to be nauseous and asked the driver to pull over. Once the car came to a stop on the side of Highway 167, the man punched the employee while the woman pepper-sprayed him, according to the WSP. The employee told detectives the man claimed he had a gun and threatened to use it if the employee didn’t exit the vehicle.

The pair took off with a silver 2012 BMW X5. They arrived at the Auburn dealership in a gray Honda Accord.

It turns out that a Honda was also stolen from another dealership with the same tactics.

On Aug. 19, the man and pregnant woman went to Acura of Seattle in Tukwila for a test drive.

“Somewhere on that test drive, it was reported that (the man and woman) assaulted that employee … punched him or her and pepper-sprayed them,” WSP Trooper Chase Van Cleave said.

Just like the robbery in September, the pair kicked the employee out of the vehicle and took off.

“It’s a breach of trust, it’s vulnerability and it’s scary for us and to everyone to know that this could happen to them,” Van Cleave said. “If they did this twice, it’s reasonable to suspect there could be a third time. And that’s why at this point, time is of the essence to identify them, their location, where they’re at and get them into custody to stop them from doing it again.”

The Honda Accord stolen in Tukwila is a grey model from 2014, had a temporary tag in the back window, and an Arizona license plate on the front dashboard.

Anyone with information on the stolen cars or the suspects is asked to contact Detective Ruth Medeiros at Ruth.Medeiros@wsp.wa.gov or 425-401-7719. If you see the suspects or the cars please do not approach but call 911.

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