WIXOM, Mich. (WJBK) - A visitor from Pennsylvania says his dream ride was stolen during this year's Woodward Dream Cruise. His 1959 Cadillac convertible is missing along with his truck and trailer. The owner is offering a $5000 reward for the car's safe return.
Click on the video player to hear his emotional plea to Detroiters.
Ron Rodriguez loaded his 1959 Cadillac convertible into a trailer and hitched it to his red Dodge truck, then made the drive to Detroit. He was cruising Friday when he had a problem with the motor. Rodriguez was forced to have the car towed back to the Holiday Inn he was staying in Wixom. But when he woke up Saturday morning, everything was gone. His truck and the trailer containing the Cadillac were stolen sometime overnight.
The classic car has been in his family for 20 years. It's black with a white top and white-wall tires. The car has a green interior. Rodriguez is offering a $5,000 reward for the car's safe return.
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07:58 AM
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spud321x Member
Posts: 974 From: Jackson, Michigan Registered: Oct 2004
WDIV News-4 reports that the Caddy has been found in Detroit near I-94, outside of boot prints on the hood, looks like it's in reasonable good shape. The red pick-up truck and trailer has also been found near the same area. No suspects in custody.
Thank goodness for people looking after each other.
WDIV News-4 reports that the Caddy has been found in Detroit near I-94, outside of boot prints on the hood, looks like it's in reasonable good shape. The red pick-up truck and trailer has also been found near the same area. No suspects in custody.
Thank goodness for people looking after each other.
I'm so glad to hear the car was found. I hope they find the bastards responsible for this.
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02:48 AM
Aug 23rd, 2011
Gokart Mozart Member
Posts: 12143 From: Metro Detroit Registered: Mar 2003
Oakland Co. Executive L. Brooks Patterson aids Dream Cruise theft victim 12:50 AM, Aug. 23, 2011
After hearing about a Pennsylvania man whose 1959 Cadillac was recovered in Detroit after being stolen in Wixom just hours before Saturday's Woodward Dream Cruise, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson offered $1,000 to cover damage to the classic car.
"I felt so bad for the guy," Patterson said Monday.
Patterson said he called Ron Rodriguez and apologized to him after learning of the theft early Saturday from a Wixom hotel.
"This was a car he had worked on for 20 years, and the theft happened in my county," Patterson said. "I wanted him to have a better memory of us than he otherwise would've had.
"I could tell he was moved and appreciative of the gesture. He said he's coming back next year. I said, 'Give me a holler when you get here,' " Patterson said.
The $1,000 check is to come from Boost Oakland Business, a fund of private donations, with no taxpayer dollars involved, said Patterson's spokesman Bill Mullan. At the Dream Cruise itself, crime and mishaps were minimal, outside of thunderstorms that rocked Woodward during the late afternoon, dispersing much of the million-plus crowd, Royal Oak police said.
Police estimated that the crowd on Woodward from 8 Mile to Pontiac peaked in the early afternoon at about 1.1 million. The numbers fell off in mid-afternoon, as people saw rain clouds, and dropped significantly as rain and wind struck shortly after 4 p.m., police said.
Berkley had one arrest for driving while intoxicated, Royal Oak had one for public intoxication, and Ferndale had three -- two for driving while intoxicated and one for narcotics possession. Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Huntington Woods reported no arrests, Royal Oak Interim Deputy Chief Gordon Young said Monday.
In Pontiac, Oakland County deputies made "a handful of misdemeanor disorderly person arrests" and issued 57 traffic tickets, Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said Monday. Bloomfield Township issued one citation for driving with a suspended license, Sgt. Craig Shackleford said Monday.
Rodriguez, 62, is a retired owner of a fabric store from Scottdale, Pa. His Caddy, black with a green interior, was in a covered trailer when its tow truck, the trailer and car were stolen from the Holiday Inn parking lot, he said.
Detroit police found the tow truck Saturday in one spot and the trailer with the Cadillac on Sunday, Mullan said.
"We didn't have it strapped down, so it's got a lot of dings and damage" from being jounced during the thief's flight, Rodriguez said. Patterson was "very generous," he said.
"Hopefully, we'll get it all fixed up and be back next year."
