A McLaren meant for a buyer in Maryland ended up in an Atlanta parking lot. The driver who hauled it says the paperwork sent him there before he even collected the car.
In an October 14 SwitchCast Live interview, car hauler Bret Weiler described a shipment he says drew him into a theft scheme about a year earlier. He had been heading to Florida and wanted to fill an open spot in his trailer.
An online job board called Central Dispatch listed a McLaren bound for Atlanta. It needed an enclosed trailer, which suited his setup, so he accepted the job.
Host Doug Tabbutt explained that the car had been sold by a dealership in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to a Maryland buyer. He described a scheme in which someone takes a shipping job, passes it to another carrier, and sends that driver to a different destination.
The Shipment
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The broker called the job a “blind shipment,” Weiler recalled. He knew that term from hauling produce, so it did not make him reject the load.
His shipping paperwork listed Atlanta as the destination when he arrived at the dealership. In his account, dealership staff signed off on that paperwork before he left with the McLaren.
Tabbutt criticized that handoff, arguing that the destination mismatch should have stopped the car from leaving. Weiler, meanwhile, had received no instructions to take it to Maryland.
At the Atlanta drop-off, about five car carriers were parked in what Weiler described as an abandoned mall parking lot. He initially thought it might be a transport yard.
A man met him and paid for the delivery. As the handoff began to feel wrong, Weiler photographed the man, his license, and the McLaren’s temporary tag.
“I don’t know if the guy’s armed or not,” Weiler said while explaining why he avoided a confrontation. “What’s gonna happen if I’m the one that tries to be the first line of defense?”
He completed the delivery and called police immediately afterward.
After the Handoff
Weiler recalled hearing from an Atlanta police detective about 24 hours later. A few days into their contact, he said, the detective told him the man who received the McLaren was using it to take his children to school.
The dealership sought payment through Weiler’s insurance policy, he said. He provided his insurance details and stayed in contact with police to explain the shipment.
By the interview, Weiler still did not know whether the McLaren had been recovered or returned to its owner.