Valet Joyrides Audi RS7 to Car Meet Where It Gets Stolen
The car was later recovered, but it was completely ruined by the armed thieves.
Valets across the country have been up to no good lately, and a lot of them have been caught on camera. That said, this story out of Baltimore takes the cake. As reported by local news station FOX45, an Audi RS7 owner gave his keys to a hotel valet and woke up to the news that his car was stolen. The hotel manager said the man whom he gave his keys to took it to a car meet, where it was taken from him at gunpoint. It was later located, completely trashed, and now Eller is out thousands.
This all happened two months ago when the RS7's owner Brian Eller traveled to Baltimore for a date night. He had recently purchased the $120,000 Audi and handed off the keys to the valet at the Pendry Hotel in Fells Point. That's when the trouble started. Instead of just parking the car, the hotel employee took it to the nearby neighborhood of Canton, where there was allegedly a car meet going on at a convenience store. Exactly what kind of car meet, it isn't clear. Doesn't seem like it was a Cars & Coffee, though.
Shortly after he got there, three armed thieves allegedly took the car from him. It was later found by police, abandoned outside an apartment complex. The trunk was also soaked with gasoline, which was a nice touch.
Eller learned about this from the hotel manager, who explained what happened the next morning. The valet is being charged criminally; however, that doesn't exactly fix the RS7. The car was totaled, and it's unclear from the local news report how the car situation is being resolved. Insurance will likely compensate Eller if he has the right coverage.
For its part, the hotel had possibly the worst reaction to all of this unfolding. Instead of offering any kind of financial restitution, it reportedly offered Eller a free stay at a later date. They probably thought that was a pretty slick idea since Eller doesn't have a car that one of its valets can steal anymore. Very wise.
This incident is one of several publicized valet mishaps in recent memory. Just a few months ago an airport valet took a brand-new Corvette for a joyride, revving the car over its recommended limits during the break-in period. In 2021, something similar happened with a dealership mechanic who decided to street-race a customer's new C8. In that case, the dealer agreed to get the owner a whole new car, which more than made up for the trouble.
Eller may be getting a new car, of course, but he won't be driving his RS7 in the meantime.
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