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Tesla damaged after getting stolen from Houston parking lot
FOX 26 Reporter Gabby Hart spoke with the vehicle's owner about what happened.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - A Houston man sent his Tesla to the dealership for a repair, but it was stolen from the parking lot.
Albert Molina's Tesla stalled out the night of Friday, Aug. 18. So, he went to the Tesla app and initiated a service call. The app dispatched Apple Towing Company to his location.
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"They jump-started it, and it came on. I was able to drive it around the block, and they asked me if I still wanted to have it towed," Molina explained.
Even though his car turned back on after the jump, Molina opted to have it towed to the dealership, so the battery could be replaced, which was covered under warranty.
That night, he received confirmation through the app that his car made it to the Tesla dealership on Westheimer and Westchase. But on Saturday morning, Molina got a call from the service department.
"They said, we have you registered here as having your car in our lot, but it's not here. Where is it? They asked me". Molina explained.
Molina went to track his car from the app and saw that someone was driving it.
"It's like moving around Houston, it stopped in an HEB, it stopped in a Subway," Molina said.
Molina says the Tesla rep told him he needed to be the one to call the police.
"I said, you should be the one calling the authorities, because it was on your premises that it was taken. They said no," Molina said.
Once Molina alerted authorities he had Tesla take the car out of repair mode, so he could use the app to stop the car from moving. After doing so, his Tesla sat in the parking lot of Pont Alba Apartment Homes in Bellaire until August 26. Six days after he stopped it, he says police told him not to approach the location by himself.
Police finally had it towed to an impound lot and a picture captured the damage to the driver-side window and Molina's afraid of what damage he might find inside his car.
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Now, Molina says not only does Tesla want him to pay to have it towed back to their dealership, but they also told him he's responsible for any and all damage caused by the car thief.
"They said we haven't inspected the car, we don't know what condition it was in. If the whole car was taken, it's in their care control and custody, and they should be responsible for it. They should secure their location," Molina said.
Houston police are investigating the car theft. We reached out to Tesla on Monday to ask about their protocol when cars are being dropped off on their lot; and why Molina is left responsible for that damage. We're still waiting to hear back.