NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Sitting inside her bright red Dodge Charger, Tessa Sturm looks like she might be getting ready to drive off in the car of her dreams. The problem is, she's missing all four of her tires.
This bright, cheery line dancing instructor bought the sports car with her fiance in 2017. The couple recently got married in November, a marriage so recent that "Just Married," is still written across the back window of the two-door sedan with a V6 under the hood.
"We didn't want to wash it off, we're still in our honeymoon phase," she said sitting inside the car Monday.
Last week though, thieves quickly brought that honeymoon period to an end. First, on New Years Day they made off with all 20 lug nuts on Tessa's car. She noticed the problem when backing out of a parking spot at her apartment complex, "My husband just goes 'Stop!' and I get out of the car and the wheels are falling off."
The couple called around to area repair shops and auto dealers but no one had lug nuts for the Dodge Charger in stock. In the two days it took to ship the parts, thieves again struck the Sturms, this time though they took the tires.
"This is somebody who doesn't have a heart and they don't think about others and the heartache and inconvenience it causes," she said as she began crying.
Tessa isn't alone in being the target of this bizarre crime. Since Christmas, Metro Police say they received at least two other reports of people having their lug nuts stolen.
Only adding insult to injury, Tessa's apartment complex "The Trails" near Percy Priest Lake, have told her she has to have the un-driveable car off the property by Wednesday or it will be towed.
"So sweet of them, right?" she added.
Metro Police currently have a detective assigned to Tessa's case but haven't made any arrests.
