VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Clark County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday that it has arrested five people on a total of 23 felony charges in connection with a multi-state muscle car theft ring, recovering 11 stolen cars collectively worth about $700,000.
The Clark County investigation began in June, according to a news release from the sheriff's office, with detectives working alongside Multnomah County Sheriff's Office personnel who were also investigating the high-end car theft ring. The Multnomah investigation culminated in the arrest of the suspected ringleader last month.
The suspects in the Clark County investigation were part of the same ring and communicated with the suspects in the Multnomah County investigation, according to the the Clark County Sheriff's Office. The ring stole cars from local dealerships, targeting high-end cars like Dodge Hellcats and Chevy Corvettes, and they also paid people to scout out privately-owned muscle cars, which the theft ring members would later steal.
The ring operated across multiple states, and detectives believe the Vancouver suspects helped with scouting out vehicles for theft as well as facilitating the sale of stolen cars or parts of cars, including swapping their vehicle identification numbers. In some cases the stolen car parts were sold to other members of the theft ring, according to the news release.
Clark County detectives ultimately obtained 13 search warrants during the investigation and recovered 11 cars worth about $700,000, along with nine firearms and $42,000 cash, most of which was found in a safe belonging to one of the five people charged in the case.
Some of the recovered cars had been stolen from as far way as San Francisco and Bellingham in thefts stretching back to the summer of 2023.
The first four suspects' names, ages and charges are listed below. The fifth suspect has not been identified because they are a minor, but they were charged with one count of Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle, according to the news release:
- Christopher Bensch, 25: Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (four counts), Trafficking Stolen Property in the First Degree (four counts), Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the Second Degree, Taking a Vehicle Without Permission in the First Degree (two counts), Burglary in the Second Degree
- Tyler Lautenschlager, 42: Taking a Vehicle Without Permission in the First Degree (two counts), Trafficking Stolen Property in the First Degree (three counts), Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (two counts), Forgery (two counts)
- Luke Tangocci, 34: Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (two counts), Trafficking Stolen Property in the First Degree, Taking a Vehicle without Permission in the First Degree, Providing a Firearm to an Ineligible Person
- Miguel E. Gonzalez, 26: Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle
The recovered cars are listed below. The first three were found disassembled and the rest were recovered intact:
- 2017 white C7 Corvette
- 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS
- 2016 white Dodge Charger Hellcat
- 2021 purple Dodge Charger Hellcat
- 2019 black Chevrolet Corvette Z06
- 2018 silver Hennessey Corvette
- 2016 red Stingray Corvette
- 2009 Chevrolet Silverado Duramax
- 2021 black Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye
- 2016 black Dodge Challenger Hellcat
- 2016 black Dodge Charger Hellcat
