Reddit hunts down streamer’s stolen ‘dream automotive’, finds confused man who calls for $10,000 earlier than fleeing to therapeutic massage parlour

Two days in the past, tragedy struck.  In a video posted to YouTube, former most-subbed Twitch streamer of all time Ludwig Ahgren introduced that his “prize possession”—an imported 1997 Subaru Sambar microvan—had been stolen. It had been taken from exterior the warehouse where Ahgren movies his podcast—The Yard—throughout LA’s latest rainstorms. The dangerous climate had knocked out the location’s energy, which means individuals leaving had been compelled to go away the electrical gate large open and the Sambar ripe for the taking.

As reported by Kotaku, it did not take the web lengthy to trace the van down. Barely a day after Ahgren posted his video, a Reddit consumer named iwantaguineapig posted a video of the Sambar—parked in such a manner that its licence plate was unreadable—within the LA neighbourhood of Sylmar. 

After somewhat little bit of a runaround (the van had vanished the primary time Ahgren, who’s at the moment in Texas, might get somebody to Sylmar to scope out the scene), Ahgren’s assistant Nick Yingling and collaborator Anthony Bruno tracked down the van in the identical spot that night. Unable to get the cops to return and assist, they determined to only use their very own van key and take it again themselves. There was only one downside: Somebody was in it.

As you’ll be able to see within the video above, Yingling solely observed the motive force’s shadow—emitting a breathless “There’s-someone-in-the-car!”—on the exact second they opened the door, prompting the pair to beat ft away from the van in concern of a confrontation neither of them have been ready for. However as a substitute of a hardened legal, they discovered a barely perplexed man.

Realising they’d not disturbed the Al Capone of Japanese microvan theft, Yingling and Bruno started negotiating. “Hey bro, we have gotta take it again,” stated one of many pair, to which the determine within the van responded “Take what again?” The video posted to Twitter cuts off shortly thereafter, however we all know what occurred because of an update video posted by Ahgren yesterday.

Based on Ahgren, the determine sitting within the Sambar advised Yingling and Bruno that he was not the one answerable for stealing it. As an alternative, he stated it had been given to him in lieu of money by an affiliate who owed him cash. Then, in a move that is truthfully sort of admirable for its brazenness, he stated he’d return the automotive if the pair—who had their very own working key and to whom the van clearly belonged—gave him $10,000, nearly double the $5,500 Ahgren initially paid for it (minus import charges).

When Yingling determined that calling the cops once more can be a greater choice, the man within the van slammed the door shut and took off within the van. However slightly than promote or stash his sizzling property, he drove it to a therapeutic massage parlour, where it was noticed by one other Reddit consumer named suufferPNG the following day. This time, the cops did show up, prompting the van’s driver—who was within the technique of loading the van as much as depart—to flee on foot. Yingling was there shortly after, the truck was recovered, and all was properly a mere two days after Ahgren’s unique video saying the theft was posted.

There’s in all probability an ethical right here, however I will be damned if I can inform you what it’s. Generally the collective energy of the web can obtain constructive ends? That one sounds somewhat dicey. How about: Do not steal extremely recognisable autos from celebrities with hundreds of thousands of followers, after which tremendous do not simply drive them to a public parking zone exterior a therapeutic massage parlour in broad daylight after being confronted about it? That is a lesson we will all be taught from.