Ram’s mechanical bull ride found, Sheriff says it was never stolen in the beginning – Jalopnik

We reported earlier this week that Ram’s “Bucking Hemi” ride was stolen last weekend of the Roadkill -Nights of this year in Pontiac, Michigan, last weekend. It seems to be reports of the theft of the ride – which has a V8 engine with a ram head instead of the tradition mechanical bull saddle, but in fact in the same way – were greatly exaggerated. According to the Sheriff office of Oakland County.

The brand made it clear to the media that their report from the missing bucking hemi ride was not a marketing stunt. It brought Flyers online to ask for information from the public, and Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis released a statement this week and called the theft “Bull ***”. It even said that it actively worked with law enforcement to detect the cowardly thief. Ram now says that a supplier accidentally packed the ride during the demolition of Roadkill Nights on August 9 and transported this 1200 miles to North Carolina, where the mistake was discovered. The ride is now back to Michigan, and Ram claims that it was all a big misunderstanding.

But Michael Bouchard, the sheriff in Oakland County, Michigan, where the supposed theft took place, also thinks that the entire event is “BS”, but in a very different way than Kuniskis; The police think that RAM never had a theft in the beginning, that the brand knew where the $ 34,000 ride was at all times, making the police possible to a false report.

“We want to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who is behind us and has worked to bring Ram’s Bucking Hemi® home. In particular, we are extremely grateful and we appreciate the help of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office in this matter,” the company said through an official explanation to the press.

The brand may want to thank the Oakland County Sheriff office, such as Michael Bouchard de Detroit free press In the beginning there was never theft. In fact, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office says that it is now investigating RAM for false reporting of a crime:

Bouchard, whose representatives responded to the scene of Roadkill -Nights after receiving a Larceny report, said Ram’s claim that the mechanical bull was stolen was incorrect.

Bouchard said his detectives concluded that the “theft never took place”, claiming that the mechanical bull cover was in the possession of RAM all the time.

“The company never lost the bull,” Bouchard said in a press release. “I find this very frustrating and a huge waste of valuable research time.”

While the hunt for the stolen bull has been completed, the Sheriff office is now considering charges.

“Now we are running to see if a crime has been committed by submitting a false police report,” said Bouchard.

Yikes. Nobody likes to waste his time, especially the Sheriff office in a province of 1.2 million inhabitants. And I can tell you on my part of this story that journalists in the Automotive Biz also do not like a scam in the name of marketing. It was not so long ago that Volkswagen was confronted with the anger of the industry after he pushed a fake story that the brand changed its name to Voltswagen in honor of his new dedication to EVs. We called VW on that one, although we heard from our sources that Ram’s missing ride was not a marketing stunt.

Hopefully this entire event was really only one big misunderstanding, because submitting a false police report from Grand Theft (the theft of everything that is worth more than $ 1,000) in Michigan, could be considered a crime.

Ram told Jalopnik that it is in contact with the Sheriff’s Office of Oakland County. We will update this message as things continue to develop.