“Smash and grab” type crimes are increasingly common. Criminals first steal a car, then they use it to ram through a storefront to “grab” whatever merchandise they’re actually after. Recent examples hit everything from a high end shoe store to an entire ATM. Last weekend, criminals in Kansas City used the same tactic to get into a Dodge dealership and steal a Challenger Hellcat.

The police in Ottawa, Kansas, report a witness called them around midnight on Saturday, June 14th. Thieves had driven a vehicle through the front window of the Victory Ottawa Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram dealership.

What were the thieves after? One of the final V8 cars Dodge ever built: a 2023 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Jailbreak Edition.

What car did Missouri thieves steal during smash-and-grab?

Dodge no longer makes the Challenger, and these cars are getting increasingly rare. The remaining ones are selling far above MSRP. Victory’s deleted the post for the 2023 Hellcat Challenger the thieves nabbed. But pictures how it’s blue and appears to still have the factor splitter guards installed, so it may be a “brand new” 2023 car. If so, it may well be worth $100k.

The thieves raced the 700+ horsepower muscle car onto the highway, and used Interstate 35 to get away. Then it took 435 into Kansas City. Multiple agencies pursued the car. Officers tried to pull the thieves over, corner the car, and even stop it by deploying tire deflation devices on the road ahead. But the Challenger thieves escaped.

Ottawa resident Jay Wieneke said, “It stinks that it is a brand-new dealership, and they are just trying to get off one lot and are brand new to the other one, and then something like this happens…I think it’s a pretty tragic thing.”

The Ottawa police are asking for any information on the missing car. The detective department has an anonymous hotline at  (816) 474-8477.