A ring of thieves as young as 9 years old stole more than $1.1 million worth of vehicles from nine North Carolina dealerships since mid-March, authorities said.
The Winston-Salem Police Department said it had identified 19 children ages 9 to 16 who were involved but as of last week had not been given approval by the county to arrest them.
Police said the minors were working with a 19-year-old who has been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, CNN reported.
James Juarez, general manager of Bob King Kia in Winston-Salem, told Automotive News that the kids would walk through the dealership saying they were waiting for their parents in the service department, but they were actually collecting keys that had been left on salespeople's desks in the showroom.
Three cars were stolen from the store after a crowbar was used to pry open a door to the service department.
"Unfortunately, these kids are out of school and need something to do," Juarez said. "It's just a bad situation."
All three vehicles were found and returned with minimal damage. Around 45 sets of keys were found in the returned vehicles.
A new security protocol to lock keys under a key code has been implemented at the dealership.
At Volvo Cars Winston-Salem, three suspects broke in after hours, but they were not successful in stealing any vehicles.
Owner Rob Satter Sr. credited his security system for scaring the suspects, whom he described as "young kids." They were in the store for less than five minutes.
"I was fortunate in this situation, to say the least," Satter said. "I was able to stop them from doing what they were doing."
His surveillance video was used by detectives to identify the perpetrators.
In total, 46 vehicles were stolen. All but six had been recovered.
