Dealership owner posts epic rant and reward to Kijiji after trucks stolen

"You stole from the wrong guy. I will keep looking until I find you."

That's the message one Dodge dealership owner has for the thieves who stole not one — but two — trucks from his Redwater, Alta. dealership. 

A silver 2014 Dodge RAM 1500 valued at $35,000 was taken from David Tingley's Dodge dealership on March 20. Then a few days later, a brand new RAM 2500 Mega Cab worth $85,000 was also taken.

Tingley said he has no idea how the trucks were taken — but that the thieves somehow got their hands on key fobs to both trucks.

"In other words, they didn't break a window or tow it," he said Wednesday. "The drove it off the lot."

"Anybody who owns a newer RAM now knows that you don't need a key to operate the vehicle, you just have to have the fob in your possession," he said. "If you're able to swap out the fobs at some point, you could come back and pick up the truck any time you want."

The RCMP are now investigating both thefts, which Tingley says are the first he's experienced in his 30 years in the business.

But an admittedly "pretty angry" Tingley was not content to wait idly by. Instead, he wrote a Kijiji post reminiscent of the oft-quoted speech given by Liam Neeson's Bryan Mills in the 2008 film Taken. 

"Consider moving to a cave in Afghanistan," he wrote. "Seriously, keep reading. You stole from the wrong guy. I will keep looking until I find you."

The post also promises a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest of the thieves.

Full text of Kijiji post:

"It definitely wasn't well thought out — it's not Thoreau material — but I'm pretty motivated and determined to get my trucks back," he said of the post.

"Reflect on the fact that you're dealing with maybe a slightly unbalanced, motivated guy who wants to get his vehicles back. I'll never give this up. When I was a kid somebody stole my dad's truck … and he chartered an airplane and found his truck, and I think I inherited this gene somehow."

Tingley said some tips have come in as people in the community heard about the threat, but there's still no word on where his trucks ended up.

Now, he's in the midst of changing security measures around his lot, installing a fence and compound, as well as security cameras — but he has no plans to stop searching for the missing trucks or the people who took them.

"I'm determined — $5,000 is a lot of money and somebody knows where the trucks are and somebody will talk eventually as long as I keep the message out there."

Redwater is about 60 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

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