A bizarre raid on a Perth showroom saw car thieves damage and move a more expensive vehicle in order to steal a five-year-old Fiat 500.
Thieves targeted the Arnold Clark store on Dunkeld Road some time between 6pm Saturday and 11am Sunday with the red Fiat 500 taken from the dealership’s forecourt.
A blue Citroen C3 worth £4,998 was also damaged during the break-in when the thieves moved it in order to get away with the Fiat.
The damaged car was worth £800 more than the stolen car, according to Arnold Clark.
Both cars were still listed for sale on the dealership’s website yesterday evening.
Other vehicles on the forecourt worth thousands of pounds more than the stolen vehicle remained untouched.
The Fiat 500 had the registration plate PE64 UJV when it was taken.
Police have launched an investigation and an appeal for witnesses following the raid.
A spokesperson for Tayside Police said: “Sometime between 6pm on Saturday 28 and 11am Sunday 29, a red Fiat 500 was stolen from the forecourt of Arnold Clark in Dunkeld Road, Perth.
“The car carried the registration plate PE64 UJV when it was taken.
“A blue Citroen C3 was damaged when those responsible moved it to enable them to steal the Fiat.
“If anyone has any information that could assist our investigation, please call 101 or speak with any police officer.”
Last month car thieves stole two vehicles from Burrelton, near Perth, before embarking on a crime spree across Tayside and Fife in one of the stolen vehicles.
A red Mazda and white Land Rover were taken from neighbouring driveways in North Street.
The Mazda was then used during an attempted break-in at a Spar in Wormit, Fife, around four hours later.
The Wormit break-in was also linked to two other robberies at stores in Newport that day.
Both vehicles were later recovered by police.
In October a Perthshire biker was left devastated after thieves stole three of his prize bikes worth £20,000 from a lock-up at Scone Airport.
soneil@thecourier.co.uk
