8 cars stolen after suspects rappel into Spokane car dealership: police

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two people have been arrested and charges are being sought on a third after eight vehicles were stolen from a dealership in Spokane, Washington on Tuesday, authorities said.

At around 10 a.m. on October 24, officials with the Spokane Police Department (SPD) said patrol officers responded to Northtown Auto Sales, a used car dealership, on a report of numerous stolen vehicles from their lot, which was first reported by The Spokesman-Review.

“I came in and cars were missing from our front line,” Sales Manager Johnny Arrotta told NewsNation affiliate KOIN. “I figured something was off.”

Investigators said someone broke into the business and stole multiple sets of keys. Over the course of the night and into the early morning, authorities say the suspects repeatedly returned to the dealership and took eight vehicles.

The stolen vehicles included three BMWs, two Mercedes Benzs, a Dodge Grand Caravan, and a Nissan Titan, Arrotta told KOIN.

Just four months prior, Arrotta said they had another break-in that he said authorities believed was the same person. That time, the suspect came in through the roof.

Arrotta said when employees checked the security footage from the current break-in, it showed two suspects, who Arrotta described as “a guy in a straw hat” and another in a “giant furry trenchcoat,” appearing from a hole in the ceiling and rappelling into the office “like out of a movie.”

Thieves broke in through the ceiling at Northtown Auto Sales in Spokane and rappelled down into an office with a rope on October 24, 2023 (Courtesy: Johnny Arrotta)

By Tuesday afternoon, investigators located four of the cars in an apartment complex in North Spokane and shortly afterward arrested 19-year-old Fran Anunar. Anunar has been charged with eight counts of vehicle theft and one count of commercial burglary.

On Wednesday, they arrested another suspect, identified as 20-year-old Heran Linfield, on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, residential burglary, obstructing a law enforcement officer and an outstanding felony warrant for possession of a stolen vehicle.

SPD declined to identify the outstanding third suspect in connection with the thefts to KOIN.

Arrotta told KOIN that since the break-in, more cameras have been installed in the office and the hole where the thieves rappelled down from is plugged up.

SPD has now recovered all of the stolen vehicles. The investigation is ongoing.