Last week, four Dodge models, including two Hellcats, were stolen from a dealership in St. Peters, Missouri, according to local affiliate Fox 2 News. At approximately 1:30 AM last Friday, a group of teenaged suspects managed to snag the high-performance muscle cars and get them off the lot, but apparently, three of them crashed “almost immediately.”
“They lost control of them fairly easily,” said St. Peters Police Officer Melissa Doss. “They made it less than a mile.”
The suspects were apprehended on foot shortly thereafter. The three suspects are aged 16, 17, and 19 years old.
The 16-year-old will be tried in juvenile court, while the 17- and 18-year-old will be tried as adults.
Unfortunately, two of the cars seem to be totaled.
“It’s going to take several months to replace before Chrysler will give me allocation to replace them, so this one left is kind of special,” said Frank Schaffer, general manager at the Napleton Mid Rivers Dodge dealership where the cars were stolen.
In case you were unaware, the Dodge Charger Hellcat and Challenger Hellcat are both powered by a 6.2-liter V-8 that’s supercharged to 707 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque. It's enough output to propel the RWD rocket ships to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, with top speed in excess of 200 mph. Pricing starts at $62,495 for the Challenger, and $65,945 for the Charger.
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Why it matters
It’s a shame to see such lovely muscle cars get stuffed so quickly. I mean, seeing Mustangs in the hedges at Cars and Coffee is one thing, but these Hellcats barely had time to roast their stock tires before they saw their ultimate off-road excursion.
As a side note, I’ve heard that driving a manual transmission is actually a good theft deterrent. Unfortunately, the Charger Hellcat is only equipped with an eight-speed automatic, which might explain a few things.
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Dodge Challenger Hellcat
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