Bold and Brazen Theft Operation
Prosecutors describe 23-year-old Marcus Kemp as a particularly bold and brazen thief. Kemp recruited friends from his DC neighborhood to target the wealthy, quiet streets of Chevy Chase and Bethesda. They conducted these operations in broad daylight during the pandemic lockdown, focusing only on the most expensive cars.
High-End Car Heists
Over a span of seven months, Kemp and his crew managed to steal 13 high-end vehicles, including Audis and Teslas, amounting to nearly half a million dollars in value. Kemp even posed on Instagram with a Tesla Model X worth over $100,000.
Victim Impact and Sentence
The severity of the crime left victims feeling violated and their sense of peace shattered. Despite the lack of violence in the thefts, Kemp received a 25-year prison sentence, which is unusually harsh for non-violent car thefts. However, the state’s attorney, John McCarthy, deemed the sentence richly deserved due to the nature and scale of Kemp’s crimes.
Criminal Entrepreneur
Kemp’s criminal activities extended beyond theft. He ran an illegal car rental business in DC, renting out the stolen high-end cars for $200 to $500 per day, and even boasting about earning $1000 in a single day from one car rental.
Community Warning
Authorities issued a warning to the community, noting that all the stolen cars had their keys left inside. In one instance, a Tesla owner used his phone to track the stolen car to DC, where he found it unattended, started it with his phone, and drove it back home to Chevy Chase.
