DENVER — A Denver Grease Monkey mistakenly gave a customer’s car to a thief this week.
Derby Strength says on Wednesday, he dropped off his 2015 Toyota 4Runner at the Grease Monkey at West Eighth Avenue and Santa Fe Drive in the Art District. He planned to pick it up later in the day.
However, when Strength returned, the SUV was gone.
Grease Monkey accidentally gave away the vehicle, believing the thief was a woman who knew Strength.
Customer names at Grease Monkey are displayed on a computer screen, and when work on a vehicle is finished, an employee often yells out the name.
When Strength’s name was shouted, a woman walked up claiming to know him. Minutes later, she was driving away with his 4Runner.
“I [would] probably be in jail right now if I were him. I wouldn’t have been happy. I would have blown up,” said Robert Butler, a Denver man who heard about Strength’s oil change nightmare.
Strength didn’t want to speak on camera about what happened, but many are reacting to his story.
The FOX31 Problem Solvers called the owner of the business asking what they plan to do about the SUV.
The owner says they are doing everything they can to make this right with the customer, saying an insurance claim has been filed and they are providing Strength with a free rental car through the process.
The Denver Police Department is investigating.
The SUV has Colorado license plates: OMF-584.
The woman is described has being in her mid-40s with blond hair and glasses. She had a medium-sized dog with her.
If you think you have spotted the vehicle or know the woman, call DPD.