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Surveillance footage showed thieves in a tow truck brazenly hauling away a Corvette worth $300,000 from the driveway of a home in Santa Clarita in the middle of the night — leaving the supercar’s owner heartbroken.
The 2026 Corvette C8 ZR1 — complete with an orange wrap and blue-rimmed wheels — “was the car I always dreamt of having,” owner Mario Jaramillo, 57, told the California Post.
The car was stolen around 3:50 a.m. Thursday, according to his neighbor’s security camera footage, but he only discovered it was stolen later that morning because he had his vehicle’s security service turned off.
“I went to the front of my house nonchalantly and saw that my car was gone. I was numb,” Jaramillo added.
A stolen vehicle report was filed with Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, police confirmed. The car was equipped with GPS, but cops said the system was disconnected after the theft.
Now, Jaramillo is left with only memories of his pride and joy.
“I was able to meet people through the car. It helped me build a community,” he explained. “Car enthusiasts who would come up to me and ask, ‘What does it take to get a car like this?’ It was motivational for young people in their 20s.’”
Jaramillo, who’s a lawyer with Access Lawyers Group, said he made multiple additions to the Corvette, like ambient lighting and an audio system, upping its value.
“I really made it one of one,” Jaramillo said. “I just wanted to have fun with it. These people took the fun out of it.”
In an Instagram post about the car, the owner’s wife Laurel Jaramillo commented the Corvette was fully paid off and was not being repossessed.
She said the thieves used a repo-style tow truck to take it from their driveway in less than a minute.
“This car meant everything to him,” she said of her husband, asking people sharing the video to “please be kind and helpful.”
Mario said he felt comfortable parking in the driveway because there are similar cars in the neighborhood and he felt safe parking there.
“It feels like we’re sitting ducks. For some reason they targeted me,” he said. “Where’s the extra patrols? HOA?”
The theft remains under investigation.
Jaramillo, however, doesn’t believe he’ll see the Corvette again.
“I think the car is long gone,” he said. “I think it’s going to be shipped out of the country. But at the end of the day it’s a material loss. It can be replaced. What I want is for them to catch the thieves, so this doesn’t happen to other people.”
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