Test-drive auto theft suspect charged

A Grosse Pointe Farms man is charged with stealing a $60,000 2021 Ford F-150 from Royal Oak Ford, 27550 Woodward Ave., after taking the vehicle for a test drive.

Robert Gordon Steiner, 52, was jailed on $60,000 cash bond following his arraignment before Royal Oak 44th District Magistrate Nancy Orletski 10 days after police said the suspect stole the pickup truck Feb. 6.

Steiner gave bogus ID information to sales people in Royal Oak, police said, adding that sales staff members no longer ride with testdrive customers because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Steiner is also a suspect in similar testdrive auto thefts from dealerships in Farmington Hills and Redford Township.

Police said his criminal history includes an auto theft conviction and seven outstanding warrants for theft by deception in Maine, and auto theft in Illinois, Florida, Texas and the two other cases in Michigan.

A Royal Oak police officer who is a member of the multi-jurisdictional law enforcement Oakland Auto Theft Task Force started the investigation that led to Steiner’s arrest.

Task Force members set up surveillance and found the stolen Ford pickup in Detroit. They arrested Steiner when he returned to the stolen vehicle, police said.

The technical charge against Steiner in Royal Oak is theft by conversion. The charge is a 10-year felony and carries a fine of up to three times the value of the stolen Ford pickup truck.

Steiner’s next hearing in Royal Oak court is set for 11:15 a.m. Feb. 26.