A Tamarac woman is devastated after someone stole her car shortly after Christmas and she later found out the car had been demolished during a street takeover just days later on social media.
Shawna and her family have spent the start of the New Year trying to make sense of why someone would steal her Dodge Charger right after Christmas and burn it during a street takeover in Northwest Miami-Dade, Dec. 27.
She told 7News that watching the video posted on social media showing a large crowd of people jumping on the car before it’s set ablaze is heartwrenching.
“I had it eight years. Eight years and two months, and I was never getting rid of it ’cause I love my car,” said Shawna. “So it was very hard to watch that video.”
She said she loved that white Dodge Charger, taking special care of it and had no intention of ever letting it go.
“Seeing what happened to it is, it was disturbing and sad,” said Shawna. “For someone to come in and take it from me, I mean, that’s my car. I worked for my car, I pay for my car, I kept my car in perfect condition, and for somebody to come take it from me, it’s not fair.”
Now she’s trying to figure out how to get past the unfairness of this situation.
“I’m like, ‘What do you mean, where’s my car? The car’s in my driveway,’ and that’s when we all kind of realized that it was stolen,” said Shawna.
Shawna’s doorbell camera captured the moment someone got into her car in the middle of the night. You can hear the roar of her Dodge Charger starting up, and then an individual is seen running past the home.
Moments later, the thief pulls out of her driveway and leaves her gated Tamarac community just around midnight.
Hours later, the viral video of Shawna’s Charger being smashed and burned made the rounds on social media.
“They took it, and I saw a video of several people just beating it and then setting it on fire, and it’s, why? Why, why did you do that to my car?” said Shawna. “I just don’t understand that.”
At first, Shawna couldn’t figure out how the thief had gotten into her car. She said she had both of her key fobs inside her home at the time of the theft.
“I guess it was close enough for them to clone the signal,” said Shawna.
Deputies later told her it was possible due to where she kept her car keys.
“He said that there’s a device on Amazon that you can get, anybody can get, that just clones your key fob. If your key fob is close in range, they can just clone your key fob and take your car,” said Shawna.
She said the end-of-year theft has left her feeling violated and drifting around the reality of being without a car to begin 2026.
“It’s not only sad for my car, but just sad for what the kids are doing these days. Drive your own car, do drifts, destroy your own car, stop stealing others,” said Shawna.
The viral video showed several individuals taking part in the street takeover and smashing Shawna’s car.
Deputies in Miami-Dade are hoping someone steps forward to identify the individuals involved.
If you have any information on this crime, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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