Thieves Use Comcast Van As Getaway Vehicle

Thieves use all manner of transportation to make a (sometimes) speedy getaway from their crime scenes: a horse, taxis, motorized shopping carts; the list goes on. This week, a pair of robbers added to this rich history, driving away from the scene of a crime in a stolen Comcast van.

WGN TV reports that burglars broke into the garage of a home near Chicago on Thursday, stealing a toolbox and bike.

A neighbor’s surveillance camera caught the getaway, recording the license plate of the van. Police then confirmed the vehicle was indeed stolen, and the burglars weren’t just rogue cable installers.

“Basically, it’s very scary, we feel violated because our garage was broken into,” the garage owner said. “What’s especially scary right now is that they’ve become more brazen and brave. They stole a Comcast van, pulled up in our alley, and forced the garage open.”

The woman believes the break-in might be related to a similar incident nearby the day before.

The stolen Comcast van joins a long list of unique getaway vehicles:

• April 2014 — A taxi driver was offered $600 by a man to drive him 200 miles from Lawrence, KS, to Omaha, NE. The passenger asked to stop at the bank on the way — where he robbed the credit union.

• April 2014 — When a group of diners who paid with a phony $50 bill fled the restaurant, the waitress followed. She was nearly mowed down by the group’s car, which happened to be stolen from a police officer.

• July 2014 — Police in Alabama showed up to deal with an intoxicated woman believed to have stolen items, only to find she’d ridden a horse to the store.

• Sept. 2014 — An accused Walmart shoplifter fled the scheme — albeit very, very slowly — on a motorized shopping cart.

• Jan. 2015 — A woman left her one-year-old daughter in a cab with a friend while she allegedly robbed a gas station. The cab driver was tracked down by police later, and claimed to have no idea that the stop was an armed robbery.

• Jan. 2015 — A South Carolina man allegedly robbed a bank and then went to a nearby fast food restaurant and demanded a cab.