MAY 22 . 2004 • Q-NOTES
Regional
Deep south drag queen carjacking rampage
Police say suspects stole cars to drive
to drag pageants throughout the
southeast
by Carol Robinson and
Fidel Ortega
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A band of drag
queens have reportedly been stealing cars
from dealerships around Alabama to drive
throughout the Southeast to female
impersonation competitions, Birmingham
police announced. Unlike other car
thieves, they don’t send the cars to chop
shops or sell them at too-good-to-be-true
prices; they just cruise for a while in flash
and style and then abandon the cars,
often near gay nightclubs. “I guess they
just wanted to look good when they got
there,” says Birmingham auto theft Sgt.
D.P. Smith.
Upscale autos have disappeared off
lots in Tuscaloosa, Selma, Montgomery,
Huntsville and Birmingham. Investigators
have recovered about 10 to 15 cars in
Birmingham and as far away as New
Orleans and Memphis. Police also have
the keys to at least 20 others.
“They’ve either gotten a whole lot
more cars or they’ve gotten the keys and
haven’t stolen them yet,” Smith said. “We
need all dealerships to do an inventory of
their keys and their cars. Cars may be
missing, and they may not even know it.”
Police so far have charged three men
with receiving stolen property in the
heists: Decarius Conner, 18; Anthony
Erby, 18; and James Hopkins, 22.
Erby and Conner are out of jail on
bond. Hopkins, who is also charged with
escape, remains at large.
Smith said others are involved and
more charges could follow.
"Hopefully this will slow them down,”
he said.
“Sometimes during a theft the men are
dressed as women, sometimes not, but
their MO has been consistent,” Smith
said. “They go to these dealerships and
basically just overwhelm a salesman,”
Smith stated. "They dazzle him.”
Smith said they go in a group, with two
or three swamping a salesperson with
questions and requests to view or test
drive cars. While they swarm the seller,
another lurks behind and scopes out
where the salesperson puts the keys. Then
they simply drive the cars off the lot, either
right then or later in the day.
Investigators have recovered Acuras,
Nissans, Volkswagens, Lincoln Navigators
and others. Inside those cars, they found
dealership pamphlets, business cards and
more car keys. More often than not, they
also found makeup, women’s clothing and
pageant trophies, said Smith.
“It’s just like a shopping spree for
them.” the detective said. “They take them
on Thursdays or Fridays and then go to
these shows around the Southeast on the
weekend.”
According to Troy Sellers, the owner of
Troy Sellers Honda
in Cottondale,
Ala., the group
drove three cars
off their lot in
April, including
a 2004 Nissan
350ZX Roadster
Convertible and
a 2003 Acura
3.2TL Type S.
Sailers and
saleswoman
Lisa Lister said
the men were
well-groomed,
though they no
ticed one of
them had inch-
long fingernails
and an arm full
of bangle brace
lets. They didn’t
want to drive the
crank.
Gimme the ear, bitch: It
drag divas have stolen
across the state.
cars, just hear them
“I just had a weird feeling about all of
them,” Lister said. “I think they definitely
took advantage of our comfortable, caring,
casual attitude. They took our strengths
for our weakness.”
Smith said police launched their inves
tigation about three months ago. Police
tracked the cars back to the dealerships,
some of which didn’t even know cars were
gone. But, Smith said, they did remember
those particular customers.
's true — a group of 20-something Alabama
multiple cars from numerous dealerships
“It automatically rang a bell,” Smith
said. “They really did stand out.”
Detectives cranked up the heat, focus
ing their investigation around gay night
clubs and other venues that host the drag
pageants, which led to the recovery of
more stolen cars.
“They’re kind of amateurs,” Smith
said. “They got good at getting the
keys, but they were sloppy at hiding out
the cars.”
— Portions of this article previously appeared in
The Birmingham News and 365gay.com.
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