Tesla Cybertruck Renter Goes Full Vigilante, Rams Porch Pirate’s Getaway Car On Video

The wild video footage is a textbook example of Cybertruck-induced main character syndrome.

Cybertruck Crash Porch Pirate

Photo by: Facebook

Rob Stumpf

By: Rob Stumpf

Nov 2, 2024 at 12:02pm ET

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Some people say that getting behind the wheel of a Tesla Cybertruck gives you main character syndrome, and a new video showing a driver intercepting a package thief by sandwiching their car into a tree might prove that point.

A post on a Cybertruck Facebook group was recently shared on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum. In the post were photos and videos of a Cybertruck that was recently rented out on Turo—nothing out of the ordinary, folks have been capitalizing on the polarizing truck using this exact method since it was launched. But this post had an odd twist: the renter pulverized the Cybertruck in a bizarre crash.

It wasn't just any typical fender-bender, though—this one was apparently intentional. According to the truck's owner, the person who rented it happened to come across a porch pirate fleeing from their home. So, naturally, they did the most non-insane thing that any normal person would do: they rammed the suspected thief's getaway car, a Genesis G80 of all things, into a tree using the rented Cybertruck as a battering ram.

"About to find out how good Turo’s insurance is," reads the post, recounting the words of the person who originally posted the video online. "Yesterday my renter saw a porch pirate running to car (sic) with his box, accelerated, and crashed into said porch pirate making a sandwich with the burglar’s car and a tree."

Phelps posted two video clips of the incident, the first (above) showing the first-hand view from the truck's dash cam, and the second (below) of the suspect nabbing the package from the Ring camera at the renter's house and then wrapped Cybertruck flying by to intercept them.

According to a follow-up comment by Phelps, the renter's neighborhood was experiencing burglaries during the week before the incident. This may have sparked a momentary spurt of vigilante justice from the renter, which, combined with the nearly 7,000-pound truck, gave some courage to subdue the presumed porch pirate.

Reactions have been mixed. Some folks on the forums cheered on the renters for dishing out some instant karma, while others sympathized with the owner. Many speculated that the person driving the Cybertruck could be in for a bit of legal trouble, whether it be criminal for their use of the truck as a weapon, or civil through the insurance company, alleged thief, or one of the property owners affected by the incident. Others theorized that the entire thing was staged for a viral video.

Meanwhile, Phelps is down a vehicle and will not need to not only wait for insurance to clear up the matter but also for his truck to be repaired. Cybertruck owners have complained about long waits for parts in the past, and the problem seems to exist months later.

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The truck's owner, Stefen Phelps, said that he rents the truck out through Turo on weekends. This particular rental was from Friday until Monday and the renter was charged around $800 for the short stint. So was a few hundred dollars netted for the rental worth it?

"No risk, no reward," said Phelps, adding: "I hope insurance pays me quick and I can stay out of the courtroom." No word of what was in the package worth risking jail time over, though.

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