Diners at Chicago restaurant shocked by suspicious Rolls-Royce with no license plates and the truth was soon revealed
Published on Feb 13, 2026 at 12:13 PM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Feb 13, 2026 at 12:13 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
A Rolls-Royce drew suspicion after being spotted outside a restaurant in the Chicago suburb of Orland Park, and it turns out people were right to be suspicious.
Diners at the restaurant noticed the luxury car in the parking lot of Papa Joe’s Italian Restaurant late last month.
Without its plates, police had to use the 2023 Rolls-Royce VIN under the windshield to identify it.
And they soon discovered that it was the same vehicle that had been stolen from Texas just a few days earlier.
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The story behind the stolen Rolls-Royce
The Rolls-Royce vanished from Fort Bend County, Texas, on January 24.
But a few days later, it resurfaced in a parking lot in Orland Park.
After identifying the stolen vehicle on January 31, cops lay in wait for the driver to return.
The suspect, who was identified as a 31-year-old man, returned to the vehicle later that same day, unlocked the Rolls-Royce, and got in.
He was then arrested and taken into custody.
Witnesses identified him as the same person they had seen park the car there earlier that day, police said.
During the investigation, police found a stolen Illinois license plate registered to a 2006 Audi, and ‘hardware commonly used to affix license plates’.
The driver was subsequently charged with aggravated unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle and possession of stolen property.
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These are America’s most stolen cars
Car theft is a major issue, with around 850,000 vehicles stolen in the US last year alone.
And, as the story above proves, no car is safe – whether it’s a luxury Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, or a more humble daily driver.
Last year, the Highway Loss Data Institute released a report listing the most frequently stolen cars in the US, and the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 landed in the top spot.
The Camaro ZL1 has a theft rate 39 times higher than average for all other vehicles from the model years 2022 to 2024.
The second most stolen car in the US is the Acura TLX 4WD, followed by the Chevrolet Camaro.
The fourth and fifth spots were taken by the GMC Sierra 2500 crew cab 4WD and the Acura TLX 2WD, respectively.
Other models making their way into the most likely to be stolen included the Dodge Durango, Range Rover, and BMW X7.
At the other end of the scale, the Tesla Model 3 4WD, Model Y 4WD, and Model 3 2WD, were the three cars least likely to be stolen.
These were followed by the Toyota RAV4 Prime and the Tesla Model S.
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With a background in both local and national press in the UK, Claire moved to New Zealand before joining the editorial team at Supercar Blondie in May 2024. As a Senior Content Writer working on New Zealand Standard Time (NZST), Claire was the first writer on the team to make the site’s output a slick 24/7 operation covering the latest in automotive news.
