ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Five men were arrested after the group stole 33 vehicles worth more than $2 million — and in every case, the cars were unlocked with the keys left inside, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.
D’Mawuko Fugar, 19, of Orlando; Edrick Tyrone Bush, 18, of Hallandale Beach; Damon Damascus Kelson Jr., 19, of Fort Lauderdale; Marvin Tyrone Brooks III, 18, of Fort Lauderdale; and Chadd Arthur Thomason, 34, of Kissimmee are all facing racketeering charges.
According to a report, the nearly year-and-a-half investigation into an organized theft ring targeted high-end luxury vehicles in Orange and Seminole counties.
They were caught on video testing door handles and getting inside unlocked cars — sometimes while the owners were just steps away.
The vehicles stolen included BMWs, Range Rovers, G-wagons, Lamborghinis and Ferraris. One theft took place in Winter Park, where a Land Rover was taken from a residential neighborhood, deputies said.
Fugar — who drove a gray 2024 Tesla Model 3 registered to a family member — served as the primary vehicle used to case neighborhoods and transport suspects to and from crime scenes. Cell phone location data obtained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement placed Fugar at or near nearly every crime scene documented in the report, the report states.
One of the highest-profile incidents involved the November 2024 theft of a blue-and-orange 2021 Lamborghini from a Lake Nona neighborhood, which was later recovered by the Rockledge Police Department at a hotel in Brevard County, deputies said.
One of the thefts ended with a chase and crash on Interstate 4 in Seminole County. Investigators used cellphone data to connect all five suspects to the operation, according to the report.
After stealing the vehicles, detectives said the suspects loaded them onto tow trucks and transported them out of state for resale. In some cases, deputies said they also used credit cards found inside the stolen cars.
Overall charges include racketeering, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and burglary of a conveyance.