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When Lieutenant Chris Gagnon of the Hendersonville Police Department received a call about a stolen Challenger Hellcat, he likely didn’t guess how deep the case would go. The police in Hendersonville, Tennessee, ended up working with multiple agencies to recover the car. In the process, they found eight stolen vehicles across state lines, discovered a major “VIN swapping” chop shop, and even uncovered an illegal marijuana grow operation.

A 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat “Redeye” was reported stolen on Sept. 30. Security footage showed the thieves knew what they were doing. They arrived in a stolen Jeep, and one of them was armed with a key-programming computer — a tablet they used to create a brand-new fob for the car and drive it away. While Gagnon was investigating the Hellcat theft, a Dodge Durango SRT was stolen from the other end of town.

A trail of clues from Tennessee leads across three states

Gagnon traced the stolen Jeep’s license plate to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. There, detectives recovered a Chrysler 300, a Dodge Challenger, and a truck — all reported stolen from Nashville. When Hendersonville reached out to the Metro Nashville Police Department, the agencies realized they were working the same case.

Nashville police soon located the missing Dodge Durango and stopped three people leaving an apartment complex. Among them was 20-year-old William McGlimer, who was identified in connection to the original Hellcat theft. That same day, detectives received a tip that led them south — to Paint Rock, Alabama.

There, they uncovered a massive VIN-swapping operation used to disguise stolen vehicles for resale, along with a marijuana grow house on the property. The original Challenger Hellcat was recovered, along with stolen vehicles linked to Georgia, Florida, and Memphis, Tennessee.

“There was a lot of time put in by the investigators on this,” Gagnon said. “We ended up in Hopkinsville, back down in Nashville, and then we ended up in Paint Rock, Alabama. It was a bunch of back and forth, and they invested some real time to take some guys victimizing a large portion of Middle Tennessee off the streets.”

He added, “When we started making all the connections I got somewhat excited, because I knew we were going to be able to make a dent in something.”

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari is a MotorBiscuit Staff Writer who brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Henry covers Ford models daily, including the F-150. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. He’s an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts. Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont.