March 3 (UPI) — A Florida man used the pretense of owning a boat to distract a salesman and steal a $150,000 Maserati during a test drive, police said.
The Boca Raton Police Department said Michael McGilvary II, 45, took a 2016 Maserati Gran Turismo for a test drive Feb. 21 at a Fort Lauderdale dealership and he told the salesman he wanted to drive to the Boca Raton Resort & Club to show his girlfriend.
McGilvary and the salesman arrived at the club and convinced the salesman to exit the car with him to look at his father’s boat. McGilvary allegedly asked the valet supervisor to “keep the car warm.”
McGilvary took the salesman to the dock, but there was no boat. He asked the salesman to wait while he went inside to get his girlfriend, but the salesman returned to the parking lot after waiting for about 30 minutes and discovered McGilvary had absconded with the car.
Police identified McGilvary from his driver’s license, which he has left with the salesman, and he was confronted by officers at a Starbucks the following day. He initially claimed his license and wallet had been stolen and he later claimed surveillance video from the Maserati dealership showed someone other than him.
Boca Raton police spokeswoman Sandra Boonenberg said the Maserati was found parked a condominium Tuesday after a tip from a resident.
Boca Raton Police Chief Dan Alexander posted a picture to Facebook showing him standing next to the Maserati after it was loaded onto a flatbed truck.
“Our stolen Maserati has been recovered. Although I think she would make a fine undercover car for @BocaChief, we’ll return her to her family soon,” Alexander wrote.
McGilvary is facing a charge of grand theft.
