Credit: Jordi Salas
Chile, somebody allegedly had a whole story ready to go before driving off in a luxury whip! Savannah police are asking for the publics help identifying a man connected to a reported luxury vehicle theft. Investigators say he claimed to be a professional basketball player before allegedly driving away in a $90,000 BMW. The incident is now part of a larger investigation into vehicle thefts involving valet operations at downtown hotels.
Savannah Police Department records show the BMW was reported stolen on Aug. 14 from the Hyatt Regency Savannah at 2 W. Bay St. Police said the man entered the hotel lobby, returned to a white Audi to grab his belongings, and then came back with a valet ticket for a gray 2026 BMW X5. The police report states that he told valet employees he played professional basketball and had several vehicles at the hotel. Valet workers explained that each ticket was assigned to a specific vehicle, and surveillance footage showed the man presenting the BMW ticket before driving away around 12:30 a.m.
Police said the BMW was a dealership loaner being used by a hotel guest. Investigators later tracked the SUV to the 2100 block of North Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Savannah police notified Myrtle Beach authorities and requested that the BMW be entered as stolen in state and national databases.
A white Audi tied to the incident raised another concern. Earlier that day, Savannah officers found an unlocked 2025 Audi A5 in the Hyatts parking garage and learned that another law enforcement agency had reported it stolen on Aug. 13. Police notified that agency and had the approximately $30,000 vehicle towed. The records do not indicate where or how the Audi was originally stolen.
The BMW incident was also among several vehicle-related cases reported at hotels in downtown Savannah in August. Police records detail a separate Aug. 6 report involving a black 2019 Toyota C-HR that a guest had left with valet service at the Fairfield Inn on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The guest later tried to retrieve the vehicle using a code, but hotel staff could not locate either the Toyota or its key.
Valet records showed that someone had used the retrieval code at 12:06 a.m., more than nine hours before the guest said she first sent it. The system did not display the originating phone number, while the key remained listed as checked in but was missing from the valet lockbox. Officers searched the garage but could not find the approximately $18,000 Toyota. Attempts to review surveillance footage were reportedly hindered by malfunctioning garage cameras and limited access to other camera systems.
Savannah police described the BMW suspect as a Black man between 20 and 30 years old and shared images on Facebook on Thursday in hopes that someone would recognize him. No arrest was noted in the records, and it remains unclear whether the BMW or the Toyota was ultimately recovered. The investigation remains ongoing.
