On a gray March afternoon in Plano, Texas, a Chevrolet SS sat in a gym parking lot. Its owner was unaware that their vehicle was about to kick off a multi-state crime spree. Two masked figures approached, worked quickly, and drove away. The victim’s dashcam caught everything, but the theft was just one piece of a much larger puzzle. One with many other Corvette and Camaro drivers, wondering where their cars went.

But first, if you’re wondering what a Chevy SS even is…

Chevrolet sold the sedans in the U.S. from 2014 to 2017 as a rear-wheel-drive performance model imported from Australia. It’s essentially a rebadged Holden Commodore SS. It used a Corvette-sourced V8 and sat apart from other Chevy sedans like the Malibu or Impala.

Anyway, back to the story:

Plano police now say five people are behind a series of sports car thefts that stretched across a dozen cities and at least 12 states.

Investigators reported that the group targeted high-performance Chevrolets, mainly Camaros and Corvettes

The crew managed to steal 29 cars in just two months. The total value of the missing vehicles hit $1.1 million.

Detectives explained that the thieves didn’t act impulsively. They often scouted their targets, noting where a car was parked at night to ensure it would still be there later.

Once stolen, the cars were more than just getaway vehicles

They became social media props. Videos posted online showed the suspects doing donuts in intersections and joyriding before the cars were sold.

Authorities said the group fetched about $5,000 per car, pocketing roughly $150,000 in just eight weeks.

Many of the vehicles were hidden in rented storage units until they could be moved. Surveillance footage captured the moment officers closed in on two suspects at one of those facilities, recovering several of the stolen rides.

This bust comes only weeks after Plano police disrupted another luxury car theft case involving a Rolls-Royce.

Officials stressed the two investigations are unrelated, though they believe more people may still be tied to the Camaro and Corvette thefts.

Detectives also pointed to a key vulnerability: Corvette and Camaro models can be more easily reprogrammed with specialized devices, making them prime targets

While police say overall vehicle thefts in Plano are down, they urged owners of Corvette and Camaro models to update their vehicle software.

You can watch story footage from NBC 5 in Dallas–Fort Worth. The vibe is like something pulled from a Fast & Furious subplot…except this time, the police had the last word.