Car Theft Foiled By Anti-Millennial-Thief Device

Semmes, AL – When a man left his keys in a car while going into a convenience store, a group of men in another vehicle planned on stealing it. However, the plot fell through when none of the four car thieves knew how to drive a stick shift.

The driver of a 1995 Honda Civic pulled into a Quick Stop at about 6 p.m. on Monday, according to WFSB.

In the surveillance video, the driver of the car got out of his car and walked into a convenience store. The man left his keys in the car. About 30 seconds later, a SUV with four men in it pulled up next to the car.

Then the owner of the car came out of the store and realized his car was being stolen. But police said the suspected car thieves didn’t know how to drive a stick shift.

The owner of the car returned to the convenience store to get his cell phone and two of the four suspected robbers run away on foot. The other two suspects tried to drive away in the SUV.

The car owner recorded video of the men in the SUV and the cell phone video captured a clear image of one suspect behind the wheel as well as the tag number of the SUV.

The car owner continued to follow the SUV as it pulled out of the parking lot.

The suspect who was the driver was located by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested, and was identified as Dustin Roberson. Police are searching for the other suspects.

A 2016 report released by U.S. News and World Report stated that just 18 percent of U.S. drivers knew how to operate a stick shift. The report also said just five percent of the vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2016 came with a stick shift. That’s down from 25 percent in 1987, according to WCCO.