Man arrested after stealing car from dealership

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A car theft suspect was arrested after Fresno Police officers tracked him down with a GPS device.

It started at Westland Auto Sales at E Belmont Ave and N 9th St in Central Fresno on Tuesday.

Officers say 23-year-old Moises Maciel took a test drive in a BMW with an employee.

After getting back to the lot, Maciel jumped back in the car and drove off. But catching Maciel wouldn't be hard, the car lot had surveillance cameras to catch the crime on camera and the BMW was equipped with a GPS tracking device.

"We have cameras in the dealership so it seems a little bit strange that somebody would come to a dealership itself to steal a car," says manager Mark Beneke.

Employees at Westland say they didn't have a good feeling about Maciel from the moment he arrived at the lot. Those instincts proved right.

Beneke explains how the suspect got off the lot with the car, "When he came back it just so happened the guy asked him to check out the lights to make sure the lights were working so Christian stepped out of the car soon as that happened the guy just took off."

Thanks to the GPS device inside the car, the dealership was able to give Fresno Police officers the exact location of the car. Fresno Police Lieutenant Mark Hudson says the GPS information was a big help, "in this case it led the officers and detectives there, where he was still in the car when they got there."

Maciel was out on bail from a previous auto theft case and also had a felony warrant for burglary and auto theft.

Westland Auto Sales says the BMW suffered no damages from the drive and it just put a few more miles on the odometer. The car is once again up for sale tonight.