Car lot worker chases off would-be thieves

Soupy’s Auto Sales in Post Falls doesn’t have a guard dog.

Instead, a self-described “hound dog” chased off would-be thieves Wednesday night, thwarting their attempt to steal at least one car, if not more, in the used car lot and launching a high-speed chase to the state line.

“No one’s ever taken a car off this lot here,” said Scott Garrity, 43, who’s worked at the car lot for about nine years. “I’m 24-hour security. I’m like a hound dog. I watch this place really close.”

So close that Garrity watches the monitors for the lot’s security cameras in his bedroom. His bedroom is in a house on the lot.

Garrity wasn’t in bed when he caught the car thieves in the act, however. He was returning from the neighboring store when he heard the “bleep” of a car’s locking system and went to investigate.

“I walked over there and they were hiding behind a van,” Garrity said. “I was probably two feet from him. He went running down a street, and he had two buddies with him.”

The men jumped in a burgundy Dodge Durango and sped off. Garrity alerted police, and two Post Falls officers chased the Durango, which headed west on Mullan Avenue and drove into the Post Falls Mazda dealership.

From there, the getaway car drove onto the city’s wastewater treatment plant property and blasted through two chain-link fences to the freeway, Lt. Greg McLean said.

Another Post Falls Police officer picked up the high-speed chase on the freeway but stopped his pursuit at the state line, McLean said. Spokane County deputies found the wrecked Durango down an embankment off River Road near Wellesley in Spokane Valley.

Police are looking for the three would-be thieves, one of whom was described as a white male in his mid-20s, 5 feet 10 inches tall, 160 pounds, clean shaven with short hair and wearing a black, thigh-length down jacket and blue jeans.

Garrity said the three must have stolen the keys three days earlier. When the keys turned up missing, Garrity disabled the cars.

He said the three are lucky – he doesn’t take kindly to car thieves.

“Next time,” he said, “I’ll catch them.”