The owner of a stolen Dodge Charger was surprised when he saw the car doing burnouts days later in video of a street takeover at a South Los Angeles intersection.
The man only had the car for about nine months when someone stole it from in front of his Paramount home. The video showed people hanging out the orange Charger's windows as the driver performed donuts and other tire screeching stunts April 30 at Vernon Avenue and Figueroa Street.
"I was just hurt," said the owner, who asked to be identified only as Allen. "My heart just dropped."
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After the takeover, officers with the department's street racing task force tried to pull over the man behind the wheel of Allen's Charger. Dashcam video from the LAPD cruiser showed the driver taking off, tires squealing as he accelerated away from the curb.
Officers later learned the Charger was reported stolen days before the takeover.
Detectives told NBCLA it's not unusual for a stolen car to wind up in a street takeover. The cars are usually then ditched or sold.
Allen's car was found May 12 near McKinley and Vernon avenues. The high-horsepower muscle car he'd worked hard to buy was in bad shape.
"It had dents all in it, different mix match wheels," he said. "Took the striping off of it. Messed it up really bad."
No arrests were reported.
