Two similar carjackings occurred in Rapid City on the same night

RAPID CITY, SD (KOTA) – Michael Calabrese, co-owner of Black Hills Vinyl, said it happened quickly and he didn’t see it coming.

“I was on my way to load some great vintage audio equipment into my vehicle behind our store,” Calabrese remembers. “A few seconds later I came back out and my vehicle was gone along with all the goodies in it.”

Calabrese left his car running while he made several short trips between his store and his 2003 Toyota Sequoia, which was parked in Art Alley. This gave a criminal a brief but ample opportunity to jump into Calabrese’s large, green SUV and drive away with expensive merchandise, Calabrese’s keys to Black Hills Vinyl, and some personal items.

The other theft — which involved a tan 2015 Chevy Traverse on West Boulevard — was different in some ways. It took place in a residential neighborhood, not a downtown business district. The car was stolen from a driveway, not an alley. The victim reportedly left her vehicle to pick up her dog, not to store merchandise.

Despite these differences, a common denominator remained.

“The circumstances are very similar,” said Brendyn Medina, public information officer for the Rapid City Police Department. “A vehicle left unattended.”

Medina said it’s important to remind people of the dangers of leaving a moving car alone, even for a brief moment, as winter begins in Rapid City. Some people like to turn on their car and let it warm up for a few minutes before driving off.

“Best practices are: secure it, don’t leave keys in the vehicle, don’t hide items and don’t take items into the vehicle,” Medina said.

Although Calabrese lost several possessions in Tuesday night’s theft, he was grateful and said the crime could have been worse.

“The base for one of our newborn’s car seats was in the vehicle,” he said. “Just think of how lucky you are that the circumstances weren’t such that… we had the baby loaded up and the car was running.”

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