Hooters Patron Lets Strangers Borrow His BMW, Shockingly Strangers Keep the Car

Fairfax City, Virginia – Don’t let strangers at Hooters take your car, even if they have a really important social event coming up — one Virginia man had to learn this important life lesson the hard way, by lending out his BMW to two people he didn’t know from Adam at a local Hooters.

Due to the embarrassingly mortifying nature of the crime committed, the victim has not been named in the press. And before everyone gets too judgmental, it bears mentioning that gullibility is not a crime, and predators taking advantage of kindness begets fewer kindnesses due to inherent suspicion, so can we all agree that the bad guys in this scenario are the thieves and not the dude whose only crime was being too trusting as well as really, really poor taste in beer, food and women?

That said, we should also probably start with the fact that Hooters is not known for its discerning and well-heeled clientele, and that the waitresses are paid in part to act like your friends so you will tip them better? It seems all this false trust got to the unnamed Burke, Virginia man — who in turn lent out his car to a couple who claimed they needed to go to a wedding, giving the suspects the keys to his 12-year-old BMW in exchange for a promise from the pair that they’d return the next day with the vehicle and hand the keys over to the Hooters waitresses.

But the next day, the kindly former BMW owner returned… and the car thieves didn’t. Nor did they come back the next day, or the next… and after a few more days of waiting, the BMW owner called police to sheepishly admit he’d given his car away to people he didn’t know, with no collateral and a vague promise to return. For all we know, they didn’t even have to go to a wedding!

According to the Washington Post, the paper that first reported the late June incident, the man claims that not only did the car have a laptop and DVDs in it, but there was also a valuable piece of jewelry in the vehicle:

“And here’s the even sadder part: He had left a yellow engagement ring in the car, [Fairfax City Sgt.] Johnson said, as well as a laptop computer, DVDs, and clothing. No value was available for the ring. The BMW 740iL originally retailed for at least $62,000, but the car’s Blue Book value now is estimated at about $8,000.”

Anyone with information on the BMW stolen from Hooters is asked to call local police.