What do you get when you add nine car thieves, five Chevrolet Camaros, a helicopter, and a whole lot of police cars? You get one wild, ludicrous chase. That high-speed pursuit is precisely what happened on the streets of Lansing, Michigan. The chase ended with nine arrests and authorities recovering the muscle cars. So what led to a crazy car chase involving five Camaros and every police car the pursuing agencies could muster? 

How did the thieves get the cars? 

Nine men entered a Lansing, Michigan General Motors (GM) plant and drove away with five Chevrolet Camaros under the cover of darkness. However, they didn’t get away without drawing some attention to themselves. By the early morning, authorities had a be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) notice for the missing sports cars and the thieves. 

What happened in the crazy Camaro chase?

Michigan State Police quickly located the five runaway Camaros, and the high-speed chase was on. According to MLive News in Michigan, the drivers failed to stop when the police tried to pull the cars over. The pursuit took the five muscle cars and authorities through multiple counties when the Camaros refused to yield. As more agencies were involved in the chase, officers deployed a helicopter to monitor the Camaros. The high-speed pursuit drove the Camaro thieves to break up into two groups.

Eventually, law enforcement agencies chose to use tire deflation devices like spike strips. Several of the Camaros fell prey to the tire deflation devices and crashed. After being pursued by police agencies for some time, the remaining Camaros crashed. Despite the chase continuing on foot, law enforcement entities took all of the car thieves into custody. 

What happened with the car thieves? 

Although there were no reports of injuries, the police apprehended all of the car thieves. According to Fox2 News Detroit, Police are charging the criminals with a range of crimes. Specifically, the men are facing fleeing and eluding charges, as well as resisting and obstructing police. Additionally, the car thieves are reportedly facing receiving and concealing a stolen vehicle, as well as conspiracy to commit illegal acts charges.

Although the authorities recovered all of the Chevrolet Camaros, the thieves crashed several of the cars. It is unclear whether any of the vehicles are totaled. Finally, MLive News in Michigan reports that the value of the stolen Camaros is $375,000. 

Why steal a Camaro? 

The Chevrolet Camaros seem to be new models based on the fact that the thieves stole the cars from Lansing. The latest Chevrolet Camaros start with the base model 1LT up through the 3LT. The 1LT, 2LT, and 3LT all pack a turbocharged 275 horsepower 2.0L four-cylinder engine. Also, the LT trims offer an optional 335 horsepower V6. Climbing the rungs will result in a 455 horsepower 6.2L V8. GM offers the big V8 in the LT1, 1SS, and 2SS. Finally, if you want to get silly, the ZL1 packs a killer supercharged V8. If the criminals chose these sinister sports cars, they undoubtedly had lively getaway vehicles. Scroll down to read more about how car thieves use key fobs to steal from dealerships.