A California lawyer whose $300,000 custom Corvette was stolen from his driveway by tow-truck thieves says he believes the supercar is already out of the country.
Mario Jaramillo, 57, discovered his 2026 Corvette C8 ZR1 missing from his Santa Clarita home last Thursday morning after thieves in a repo-style tow truck hauled it away around 3:50 a.m., according to neighbor surveillance footage. The theft occurred on Backdrop Lane in Valencia, a neighborhood of Santa Clarita, and was reported to Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station at approximately 9:30 a.m. That same day.
“I went to the front of my house nonchalantly and saw that my car was gone. I was numb,” Jaramillo said.
The car, which featured an orange wrap and blue-rimmed wheels, had its GPS system disconnected shortly after the theft, police confirmed. Jaramillo, who works with Access Lawyers Group, had turned off his vehicle’s security service, leaving him unaware of the theft until hours later.
“was the car I always dreamt of having,” Jaramillo told the California Post, with nonstandard grammar preserved from his statement.
Laurel Jaramillo, the owner’s wife, took to Instagram to clarify that 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 Jaramillo had invested heavily in personalizing the vehicle, adding ambient lighting and an audio system that increased its value beyond the base price.
“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.”
The car also held significance beyond its monetary value for Jaramillo, who said it helped him connect with others.
“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.'”
Despite previously feeling secure in his neighborhood due to similar vehicles parked nearby, Jaramillo now questions local security measures.
“It feels like we’re sitting ducks. For some reason they targeted me,” he said. “Where’s the extra patrols? HOA?”
In the viral moment captured on surveillance footage, thieves operating a tow truck brazenly approached the residence on Backdrop Lane and removed the high-value vehicle in under a minute, demonstrating a level of sophistication that has left the owner convinced of organized criminal involvement.
Jaramillo maintains little hope for recovery.
“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.”