BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WTVF) — For the second time in less than five months, thieves have broken into the GM Bowling Green Assembly Plant and driven out with brand new Corvettes.
Now, members of the community want to know, how on Earth could this happen again?
The Warren County Sheriff's Department and Bowling Green Police Department (BGPD) became aware of two stolen Corvettes, each valued at $230,000 a piece, Friday night just before 11 p.m.
Officers were asked to be on the lookout for a white and orange Chevrolet Corvette. Officers were able to spot both cars at the Alumni Square Garage on Western Kentucky University's campus.
Once the thieves realized they were spotted, BGPD says the orange Corvette took off and went north, leading officers on a high-speed chase.
Eventually, the orange sports car, left unoccupied, was recovered in Martin County, Indiana. Investigators are still hoping to track down that driver.
The white Corvette, however, didn't get quite as far.
Steven Miller, a concerned citizen, heard about the stolen Corvettes through a police scanner and recorded video of the white Corvette stopped by police along Louisville Road in Bowling Green.
He said, not long after police deployed spike strips, the suspect jumped out of the car and took off.
"I wasn’t for sure if it was him or the officer, but they was running through a little grass area and of course, he got away from them," explained Miller.
It was at this point that the suspect in the white Corvette, 20-year-old Daedrin Cook from Detroit, Michigan, might have gotten away from police. But in yet another bizarre twist of this story, Cook apparently flagged down a BGPD officer and asked him for help in charging his phone. Investigators asked him a few questions, and after a few evasive answers, they realized he was the suspect they were looking for.
Cook now faces the following charges:
- Engaging in organized crime
- First-degree fleeing or evading police in a motor vehicle
- First-degree wanton endangerment
- Theft by unlawful taking or disposing of an automobile between $10,000-$1,000,000
- First-degree criminal mischief
- Tampering with physical evidence
- Obscuring the identity of a machine $10,000 or more.
"Unbelievable"
If this story sounds familiar, it's because it's happened before.
On March 22, 2025, eight Corvettes were stolen off the same assembly plant lot. In both scenarios, police say, the thieves cut a hole through the fence to get inside.
In the March heist, the cars were driven out through the same hole in the fence.
This time around, investigators say they were able to follow a delivery truck out of the main gate of the plant.
"They're doing it on the same nights, the same way," observed Steven Miller.
At this point, if you're wondering why eyewitness Steven Miller is so invested in this story, it's because he helped find many of the stolen Corvettes back in March.
He, along with Joevelyn Long and her sister Sue Nally, who also live at the same apartment complex, noticed several of the Corvettes parked in their parking lot.
"There was no dealer tags or nothing like that on it," said Long, in an interview back in March.
"I told her. I said, 'Jo, this car is stolen,'" said Nalley.
Miller found two of the cars parked near his unit. He then drove around and found two more Corvettes parked at other apartment complexes.
As a thank you, Long, Nalley, and Miller all received small gifts from General Motors.
Now, Miller wants to know how this could have happened a second time, and worries if there could be future attempts. "You would think there would be -- the security would be top," said Miller. "I believe they’ll be back again, until GM does something."
Are these connected?
We asked Bowling Green Police if the two heists were connected. A public information officer for BGPD says they can't definitively prove the two heists are connected, at least right now, but they are certainly looking into the possibility.
In addition to both schemes using fence cutting, both suspects apprehended in each of the heists have hailed from the Detroit area.
Several suspects from the thefts back in March are still on the run. And the suspect from last Friday's theft, who drove the orange Corvette, is also still at large.
If you have any information that could help Bowling Green Police capture any of those involved in the two heists, you're urged to call 866-842-CLUE.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to General Motors for a statement on this story. So far, we haven't heard back.
Do you have more information about this story? Did you happen to record any video or witness anything related to these heists? Shoot me an email at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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