Beltsville graduate’s Camaro stolen again, this time from Laurel dealership

A graduation gift that was supposed to mark a milestone instead became a target twice in one week. A 2023 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 bought in January for a University of Maryland graduate was stolen from the family’s Beltsville home, recovered a day later in Adelphi, and then stolen again from a Laurel dealership lot while it was being inspected.

The first theft happened on Memorial Day, May 25, around 3 a.m., from a parking space outside the family’s home in Beltsville. The car was found the next day abandoned on a street in Adelphi after a viewer recognized it from a news report and called police. After that recovery, the Camaro was taken to AutoNation in Laurel for an inspection on May 27. The second theft was reported Friday, May 29, and the owner, Mimi Arnett, said an employee thought the thief was a technician taking the car for inspection. Arnett filed a report with Laurel police and said she has not gotten enough answers from the dealership.

The vehicle was no ordinary commuter car. The family bought the sports car as a graduation gift after their son earned his third graduate degree from the University of Maryland, and the car was valued at about $80,000. What began as a celebration turned into a chain of police reports, recovery efforts and another loss just days later.

The repeated theft fits a wider pattern that has Maryland drivers on edge. Maryland State Police say a vehicle is stolen every 22 minutes in the state in a recent prevention release, and another state page puts the rate at one every 27 minutes. State police also said 60% of stolen vehicles were left unlocked, 50% had the keys or fob inside, and 95% lacked an anti-theft device. The Maryland Vehicle Theft Prevention Council, established by the General Assembly in 1994, awarded $2.4 million in fiscal 2026 grants for enforcement, outreach and education.

For Prince George’s County, the case is a sharp reminder that theft is not only about loss, but about how quickly one recovery can turn into another emergency. The Camaro’s path from Beltsville to Adelphi to Laurel shows how vulnerable a vehicle can be even after it is found, and how much strain a single theft can place on a family. Prince George’s County Police maintain an open-data crime portal with stolen-vehicle incidents, a tool that can help show whether this kind of repeat theft is isolated or part of a broader county pattern.