UPDATE: Fake Valet Nabs Real Mercedes on Abbot Kinney

A man who allegedly stole a Mercedes SLS has been jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

On July 30, Dylan Coffey, 20, allegedly drove off with the car. Venice311 reported someone handed the keys to a $200,000 Mercedes SLS outside a restaurant on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, possibly thinking they were a valet, reports 

Coffey allegedly took the car which police located parked a couple of hours later in Van Nuys, thanks to the Mercedes’ “OnStar” style technology.

The OnStar signal allowed police to track the vehicle to Arleta, where it was found parked around 3 p.m. near a VFW hall at Crowley and Astoria streets, according to Lt. Paul Vernon.

LAPD then waited by the car until the man returned to the vehicle where "something spooked him and he went into the VFW where detectives entered,'' Vernon said.

Coffey left the VFW hall, jumped a fence into a residential area and went into a house in the 13500 block of Reedly Street -- dressing in the homeowner's clothes and hiding under a woodpile before he was arrested, Vernon said.

"The owner was happy to hear her car was found, none the worse for wear, and we promised her we wouldn't dirty the interior with print dust,'' he said.

Coffey was jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail. He was booked on suspicion of burglary for entering the home, Vernon said, and detectives were reviewing video from the restaurant and VFW hall as part of the investigation into the car theft.

"It will be hard for him to deny his connection to the stolen car,'' Vernon said.

- City News Service contributed to this report. 

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