Only on Nantucket: The Curious Case of the "Stolen" Mercedes

Summary

The case of a stolen Mercedes G Wagon from the downtown Nantucket Stop & Shop parking lot on Sunday had many on the island captivated for nearly 48 hours.How the vehicle was taken, and its ultimate return to the owner on Tuesday, ended up being one of those "only on Nantucket" stories that was more comical than sinister.The owners of the 1991 Mercedes G Wagon reported it stolen from the downtown Stop & Shop just after 5 p.m. on Sunday. They told police that they had not left the keys inside the vehicle, and no one else was authorized to use it.The family asked the Current to share a photo of the vehicle, and the fact that it had been reported stolen. The post set off a deluge of messages along the lines of: "Who steals a car on Nantucket? Where are they going to go?"Good questions. And as Monday came and went without any sign of the missing Mercedes, the mystery deepened, and more theories continued to pour in: had it been hotwired and moved to a chop shop? Was it used for a joy ride and ditched in some remote corner of the island? Then we got another message: "Hey, case solved on the missing wagon. Let me know if you want the whole story."It was island resident Alex Miccio who told the Current how he had driven his own 1985 Mercedes G-Wagon downtown on Sunday. He was catching a Hy-Line Cruises ferry, so he parked in the downtown Stop & Shop lot and gave his keys to an elderly family friend who was arriving and getting off the boat for a visit. This friend found the other Mercedes G Wagon parked in the lot (not Miccio's), and somehow his key worked in the wrong car. His friend drove it to their home and parked it in a driveway off the road, not knowing it belonged to someone else."So then I saw the story on the Current, and another friend called and said your G Wagon is still in the Stop & Shop parking lot," Miccio said. "And it occurred to me, shit...I called them and asked for the license plate. They're on their way to the police station now."The funny thing was, ...