Thirty-three luxury cars. Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, Range Rovers, G-Wagons. Combined value north of $2 million. And every single one was unlocked with the keys sitting inside.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says five men ran an organized theft ring across Orange and Seminole counties for nearly a year and a half, and their primary tool was a door handle. No signal jammers. No relay devices. No sophisticated electronics. They just walked up and pulled.
The suspects — D’Mawuko Fugar, 19; Marvin Tyrone Brooks III, 18; Damon Damascus Kelson Jr., 19; Edrick Tyrone Bush, 18; and Chadd Arthur Thomason, 34 — are all facing racketeering and conspiracy charges that carry up to 30 years in prison. Four of the five are teenagers or barely legal adults.
Their method was embarrassingly simple. Authorities say the group would tail a resident through the security gate of a wealthy gated community, then cruise the neighborhood looking for targets. Surveillance footage allegedly captured them casually testing door handles on high-end vehicles, sometimes while owners were just a short distance away.
When a door opened and keys were found, they drove off.
Investigators say Fugar used a gray 2024 Tesla Model 3, registered to a family member, as the primary vehicle for scouting neighborhoods and ferrying the crew to theft locations. Cell phone data obtained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement placed him near virtually every documented crime scene. That kind of digital trail is what stitched the whole case together.
The operation didn’t end with the cars themselves. Police say the group rifled through stolen vehicles for credit cards and cash, then hit stores like Target to buy gift cards and expensive electronics. Investigators estimate about $1 million in merchandise was stolen this way, doubling the total take.
After stripping GPS units from the vehicles, authorities say the crew would park them at apartment complexes for a few days to let things cool down, then load them onto tow trucks and ship them out of state for resale. This was not a joyride operation. It was a pipeline.
One incident stands out. In November 2024, a blue-and-orange 2021 Lamborghini was lifted from a Lake Nona neighborhood. It was later recovered by Rockledge Police at a hotel parking lot in Brevard County — because apparently someone thought a supercar with those colors would blend in just fine.
Another theft went sideways fast. The group allegedly stole a BMW convertible and led police on a high-speed chase that ended when the car hit a pole so hard it was ripped in half. Both occupants survived, were arrested, posted bail — and, according to authorities, went right back to stealing cars.
That detail alone tells you everything about how this ring operated. The risk calculus was simple: the rewards were enormous, the method required zero technical skill, and the victims made it effortless.
Gated communities gave these owners a false sense of security. The gates meant nothing. The group piggybacked through every time. And once inside, they found exactly what they were looking for — unlocked six-figure machines with keys waiting on the seat or in the console.
Thirty-three owners of cars worth more than most people’s homes could not be bothered to press a lock button. The thieves didn’t need to be sophisticated. They just needed to be patient.
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