Detroit Dog Rescue vehicle stolen after alleged key fob replication, police chase ensues

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A multi-city police chase ended in a crash in Detroit, where police say the vehicle was stolen from Detroit Dog Rescue in West Bloomfield.

Timeline:

It was quite the day for Kristina Rinaldi, the executive director of Detroit Dog Rescue, who says her vehicle was broken into in 2024. She never expected that something would happen to it again.

"You can take a car, and I can replace that car," she said. "But the sense of safety that I feel, it’s hard. It’s lingering. I have two small daughters, and it’s sad."

Rinaldi is shaken as her Chevy Suburban, which she sometimes uses to rescue dogs, was stolen from her driveway in West Bloomfield, and she witnessed the whole thing from her bedroom window.

"I'm still having a hard time believing it. I was actually still awake, getting home from Detroit Dog Rescue," she said. "I heard a car pull up. I thought it was Amazon delivering something for DDR. I noticed it was a white Challenger (Charger), and something was just off about that."

Her instincts were right. At 2:30 a.m. on Friday, she says, in the blink of an eye, her car was unlocked.

"And then I saw someone come out of the white Charger and just run for my car, and within a few minutes, had the car started. I had screamed out ‘hey,’" she said.

She says it startled the guy for a second, but then he jumped in and drove away. Rinaldi called the police and quickly learned how they did it.

"Six months ago, my car was broken into, and what police know is that it was probably them, and they got the VIN number. They were able to make a replica key fob," she said.

What they're saying:

Then she learned that it was part of a police chase.

"It went from West Bloomfield to Troy to Detroit back to Eastpointe. Eastpointe pursued and pursued it into Detroit, where it ultimately crashed," she said. "So, detectives have the car now."

She says her truck was insured, but it's totaled, and the investigation is ongoing.

Her advice to others: park your vehicle inside your garage if you have one.

"They were flying pretty fast, and I’m grateful nobody else was hurt. On a day when a lot of kids were off school today," she said. "People are on Easter break. I’m just, I don’t even care, I’m so grateful nobody else was hurt."

What's next:

Rinaldi says the suspects are in custody, and she initially offered a $5,000 reward for tips that led to an arrest.

She says she's going to stay in touch with the police to see if any tips come in.