Carjacker steals DeLorean and crashes after pursuit near beach

[Gregadeth]

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-carjacker-delorean-pursuit-santa-monica-20160915-snap-story.html

[Gregadeth]

L.A. Now California: This just in
LOCAL L.A. Now
Great Scott! Carjacker steals DeLorean and crashes after pursuit near beach, police say
Brian Scott Cottrill
Brian Scott Cottrill (Santa Monica Police Department)
Veronica Rocha

If police chases in Southern California couldn’t get any more strange, imagine this: Officers stopped a carjacker who they said stole a DeLorean, then crashed during a slow-speed pursuit near Santa Monica beach.

No, this wasn’t a preview for the next “Back to the Future” flick, and Doc Brown wasn’t the driver behind the wheel. This scene played out Thursday along Ocean Avenue.

The pursuit began about 7:15 a.m. when the owner of the gray DeLorean DMC-12 — a vehicle made famous by the 1985 film — was showing it off to spectators in the 2600 block of Ocean Front Walk, said Sgt. Erika Aklufi of the Santa Monica Police Department.

“They were looking at the car because it’s so interesting,” she said.

As onlookers marveled at the iconic car with its gullwing doors, Brian Scott Cottrill, 32, of Oregon approached the owner and took the rare automobile by force, police said.

Soon after, police received a call about the stolen DeLorean.

It didn’t take long for officers to spot the vehicle.

“They are very unique,” Lt. Saul Rodriguez said. “That kind of stands out quite a bit.”

Aklufi said officers chased the DeLorean for about half a mile at low speeds — nowhere near the vehicle’s top speed of 85 mph.

The pursuit finally ended when Cottrill crashed into a car in the 1500 block of Ocean Avenue. Officers boxed in the DeLorean and took Cottrill into custody, police said.

He suffered minor injuries and was taken to an area hospital. Cottrill was booked on suspicion of carjacking, reckless evading and an outstanding traffic warrant.

As for the DeLorean, it was dinged up.

“You don’t see that often,” Aklufi said.

[RamblinDMC]

"Aklufi said officers chased the DeLorean for about half a mile at low speeds — nowhere near the vehicle’s top speed of 85 mph."

:angry: You've got to be kidding me

[dmc]

Well, you know what they say. If your going to carjack a car, you may as well do it with class.

[dodint]

Hopefully it wasn't the LF fender. Though it does look like the stripe is scraped on that side, tough to tell from the pic.

Must've been an automatic.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsZ6DEFUsAAtuBm.jpg

[DMCVegas]

"Aklufi said officers chased the DeLorean for about half a mile at low speeds — nowhere near the vehicle’s top speed of 85 mph."

:angry: You've got to be kidding me

It's cool. I emailed the author of the article and she updated it accordingly. She was really nice about it.

Everything has been taken care of.

[Ras12]

It's cool. I emailed the author of the article and she updated it accordingly. She was really nice about it.

Everything has been taken care of.

Goog job and thanks Robert for taking the time, effort and initiative in looking out for the DMC community and the cars reputation!

[SoCalDMC12]

Wow... that's near where I live! Surprising, even though Santa Monica can be a bit dicey in areas.

[refugeefromcalif]

A picture of the damage made it to Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKZ9NsqAv5l/

George

[Dangermouse]

It's cool. I emailed the author of the article and she updated it accordingly. She was really nice about it.

Everything has been taken care of.

I'm not sure what you told her, but it now just reads oddly

Aklufi said officers chased the DeLorean for about half a mile at low speeds — nowhere near the vehicle’s top speed.

[DMCVegas]

Goog job and thanks Robert for taking the time, effort and initiative in looking out for the DMC community and the cars reputation!

No worries at all. And thank you for the complement. It's much appreciated! :)

One of the big things I've been pushing for within the DOA is Advocacy for the DeLorean marquee to go ahead and help correct any accidental misinformation when it appears, or especially purposeful jokes to create a punchline about the car. Like I say, the author was really nice during our correspondence and totally helpful. Which you can see because the incorrect information was taken out.

I don't believe that most reporters are malicious. They've just got to go by what other facts they can quickly gather from their sources, and those sources may simply be incorrect. I totally get it. But for those few malicious ones, that's a different story that we'll deal with when the time comes.



I'm not sure what you told her, but it now just reads oddly

Aklufi said officers chased the DeLorean for about half a mile at low speeds — nowhere near the vehicle’s top speed.

Looks fine to me. But more importantly, it's correct, and was corrected before the story became widespread.



A picture of the damage made it to Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BKZ9NsqAv5l/

George

That's a whole lotta damage. Repairable, but not easy. According to other news outlets, the damage to the car probably occurred when police hit the car to stop it.

What really caught me was the description of the crime itself where the guy jumped into the car to steal it. Turns out the suspect is a transient who has lots of priors, including involvement with stolen vehicles. But the description of the crime itself from that Instagram account is what really caught my attention. It says that the guy jumped into the car and took off.

That hit home because I almost got my own DeLorean carjacked years ago. Stopped at a gas station to fill up where I left the door open, and some random dude ran up from the sidewalk and jumped into my car and tried to grab for the key to start it while I was filling it. Which he couldn't do because the key was in my pocket. I never EVER leave the keys in my car at all.

Never EVER leave your keys in your car for any reason whatsoever! NEVER! Doesn't matter if you're just filling up, walking over to return a DVD to one of those kiosks, or whatever. If you've got a bad accumulator and you're worried about a "Hot Start Issue", it is far better to be embarrassed than it is to have your car stolen.
Never leave your vehicle unlocked either if you are not going to keep an eye on it. Not even at a car show. Going to get a quick drink or use the bathroom? Close the doors and lock them both up.

[mr_maxime]

"Aklufi said officers chased the DeLorean for about half a mile at low speeds — nowhere near the vehicle’s top speed of 85 mph."

:angry: You've got to be kidding me

Alabama state troopers now know it's at least 91...

Although carjacking a delorean and getting in a police chase on ocean avenue sounds a lot like GTA vice city.

[papanoel]

best anti theft device in US is a stick shift. wonder if this guy had an automatic.

[Andrew]

Well I generally don't wish anyone any suffering, I wish slew of unpleasant occurrences on the thief that carjacked and wrecked this DeLorean. And while I would never wish any harm to a DeLorean, it's a shame that there isn't a hole in the windshield from the carjacker being ejected in the collision...

[mr_maxime]

I've often thought about taking the RPM relay out, but it just dawned on my that it would be easier to take the jumper out of the inertia switch. I also do have a manual so that does give me an increased sense of false security.

[Tamir A.]

This is a huge bummer, very sorry for this owner. I live 5 minutes from this part of town, find it shocking that someone pulled this type of crap around here.

Hope the car is back on the road again soon.

T.

[81dmc]

There goes another gas flap hood... :mecry:

[Ryan King]

Posting for future reference.
4629346294

[Andrew]

There goes another gas flap hood... :mecry:

From the pictures, I couldn't confirm that there was damage to the gas flap hood. However, if the hood is damaged, hopefully it's something Chris Nicholson can fix. It would be a shame to see a repairable gas flap hood get scrapped!

Andrew

4194
5052
Bricklin 177

[refugeefromcalif]

Posting for future reference.
4629346294

Do you have a bigger pictures of these?

George

[Tamir A.]

46298

[Delorean Industries]

Society has failed. No boundaries exist. Throw the book at this clown.

[louielouie2000]

Society has failed. No boundaries exist. Throw the book at this clown.

This reminds me of when I was at a car show with my DeLorean about a decade ago. A guy about my age (at the time) in his early 20s walked up to my car and started bragging to his kid whom he was carrying on his shoulders how he'd stolen a DeLorean before and taken it for a joy ride before being arrested. I was just flabbergasted at the whole situation. I wish we had a way of culling such people from the breeding pool! :confused2:

I hope this particular car can be saved. I hate that regardless of whether it is, yet another set of original wide stripes has bitten the dust.