Corvette Thief Caught After $25k Craigslist Scam

By Detroit Steel - December 10, 2015

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Here’s a viable candidate for Idiot of the Year. Sure, I know it might be a bit early, considering we still have a few more weeks of solid idiocy ahead, but you have to be pretty stupid to steal a classic ’64 Corvette, and you have to be really stupid to think you can get away with selling it on Craigslist.

According to a Santa Cruz Sentinel report, the scammer was caught when the buyer tried to register the Corvette with the local DMV office on November 30. Which led police to Jesse Chmelicek, the 43-year-old suspected thief who had posed as the legal owner of the car.

“Chmelicek was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on charges of auto theft, possession of stolen vehicles, grand theft, burglary, forgery and possession of methamphetamine. He remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail,” notes the Sentinel.

No surprise here, but apparently Corvettes aren’t the only thing ol’ sticky fingers Chmelicek had gotten his hands on. During a warrant search of the suspect’s house, local authorities also discovered a number of items from home burglaries throughout the area, including a stolen tractor and a stolen trailer.

The ’64 ‘Vette has since been returned to the person it was taken from. Unfortunately, the person scammed by Chmelicek is now out $25k and a classic Corvette.