Chevrolet has built the Corvette in Bowling Green, Kentucky since the early ’80s. That factory’s practically sacred ground to locals. So when a crew of thieves cut through the fence and drove off with eight brand-new Corvettes, people noticed. Especially when convoys of $100k+ cars started popping up in apartment complexes… and at a Lowe’s parking lot just seven miles from the plant.

A heist so dumb, it almost worked

The most shocking part of the story is that the Corvette thieves were able to cut a fence, hotwire the cars, and flee without factory security noticing. Perhaps the cars were kept at a storage lot off the property. But the crew’s excitement was short-lived as they left a trail of neon breadcrumbs.

The cops didn’t even know the cars were gone. A resident called 911 after spotting thieves parking a new Corvette with the factory stickers still on it at a random apartment parking lot. GM staff confirmed at least one Corvette was missing. Turns out there were eight. That’s a $1.2 million haul—if you can get away with it. Spoiler alert: the Corvette thieves couldn’t.

The Corvette thieves had no getaway plan

Police recovered several cars at local apartments and even got a call from a truck driver who the thieves asked about shipping a Corvette.

That’s right—this Dollar Store Fast and Furious crew had no plan to get the cars out of town. So after the theft they called a truck driver to haul the cars. Only problem? They told him he was picking up a 2017 Corvette. He arrived to find three brand new 2025 models that were all damaged and alerted authorities to the “weird” interaction.

That’s a new level of dumb. The mid-engine C8 Corvette is unmistakable. The 2017 was front-engine. With a quick Google search, any trucker could’ve spotted that mismatch from orbit.

Warren County deputies arrested 21-year-old Deantae Walker of the Detroit area after a chase. He at first refused to speak with police. But before they could even interrogate him he spilled the beans voluntarily and said: “If I would have made it back to Michigan, I would have been paid big.”

Good luck with that now.

One accomplice escaped in a Jeep with Ohio license plates. The police are still hunting for the rest of the Corvette thieves.

Bowling Green won’t let thieves take their Corvettes

Chevrolet’s Bowling Green plant employs over 1,400 Kentucky locals. GM brags that its craftspeople there hand assemble some engines that make Ferrari power. It’s obvious Bowling Green’s loyalties weren’t with the Corvette thieves.

Locals helped police track the cars and even shared security cam footage. One resident captured three stolen Corvettes pulling into their complex and sent the videos straight to the cops. Another snapped photos of a new Corvette at Lowe’s where the thieves seemed to think they could keep a low profile with three of the cars. The footage helped police recover all eight cars and return them to GM.

GM confirmed no ZR1s were stolen, despite rumors. But the damage was done—to fences, to bumpers, and especially to the getaway crew’s pride. The investigation is ongoing, and police are still hunting other suspects. But one thing’s for sure: if you steal Corvettes from Bowling Green, you better have a better plan than parking them at Lowe’s.