Atlanta

Police: Thieves break into valet box at popular restaurant, steal Range Rover

ATLANTA — Police say thieves broke into a valet box at a popular Midtown restaurant, took keys and stole a Range Rover with a $90,000 watch inside.

Police said the incident happened Aug. 13 outside STK Atlanta on Peachtree Street.

The valet company told Channel 2's Michael Seiden that they believe the thieves were staking out the restaurant from across the street, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Sieden also talked to the victim, who did not want to be identified except to say that he works in the music industry and is from Florida.

He told Seiden that he was meeting someone for dinner when the thieves smashed the valet box and took the brand-new vehicle, which he bought last month.

"I pulled into STK about 10 after 9," he said. "I asked the valet to leave my car up front. I gave him an extra $20 to leave it up front because I had some valuables inside."

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Minutes into his meal, the victim said the panicked valet driver showed up at his table, saying someone broke into the box and stole the vehicle.

The thieves got away with the custom, 2016 Range Rover -- and also a $90,000 watch that was inside the vehicle -- in less than 90 seconds, the victim said.

"I was in shock," the victim said. "It seems almost unbelievable to me. I eat at a lot of nice restaurants, and I protect myself."

Police have still not recovered the Range Rover.

Dilshan Singh is the owner of valet company Refined Parking Solutions. On Sunday, he showed Seiden a photo of the damaged key box. Unfortunately, no cameras in the area captured the incident.

"What they did was take a crowbar or something of that nature and stuck it in the middle and snapped it," Singh said.

Singh said he's now taking new security measures to make sure this never happens again.

"We are currently working on adding some form of recording or a video or camera that can point to a key box," Singh said. "That way, we can prevent that in the future."

Police told Seiden they think the same crew may be responsible for previous, similar thefts.

In January, someone took three luxury cars from a valet station on Pharr Road in Buckhead. Police said the people broke into the lockbox to get the keys.