A woman in Simi Valley recently had her car stolen, but it wasn’t how you might imagine! She dropped her car off at a car wash, only to have it taken right under her nose by someone who pretended to be her!

Luckily, it wasn’t a clean getaway for this car thief. Cheryl Piper, 56, took her Ford Fusion in for a much-needed car wash before heading to Malibu for lunch. As she waited inside of Simi Auto Spa & Speed Wash, she checked out the window and saw that the doors to her car were open. Obviously, she assumed workers were still finishing the detailing job. So she looked down at her phone and sent off a text message. “Literally, it was like two seconds,” she said. 

Next thing she knows, she sees her car being driven off and quickly checked with staff about where it was going. Turns out one of the workers summoned a woman to pick up the sparkling clean car and the stranger, posing as the owner, gladly took the keys and drove off in a spotless car!

The worker quickly realized their mistake and knew that the woman “took advantage of an opportunity to illegally take a vehicle.”

The cops were notified and an officer quickly spotted the stolen vehicle on his way to the car wash, where he stopped the car and had a little chat with the strange woman. 

Turns out the thief, Brenda Hendrix, 33, knew exactly what she was doing and was arrested on the spot. But she made one majorly stupid move. She turned around after she left the car wash because she left her purse there. Will thieves ever learn? 

In the short time that she was in the spotless car, she combed through the center console, ate snacks and left crumbs all over. So much for the original owner getting back a clean car. 

Read another bail bond blog: TSA Worker Arrested After Stealing Cash From Bag

Original article: Stolen Vehicle Suspect Captured