Insult to Injury: Robbery Victim Locked in Trunk

A Beverly Hills man was locked in the trunk of his BMW for nearly 11 hours and driven about the city by a gunman he caught stealing the car’s stereo, Los Angeles police said.

Greg Sykes, 31, was freed about 1:15 a.m. Friday after a passer-by heard the 6-foot-6, 200-pound man screaming from inside the trunk of the car, which the thief had ditched in Hollywood at Highland and Fountain avenues.

Sykes, who had been robbed of his money and watch, suffered only minor neck injuries, said Detective Jim Tiampo.

The radio was also stolen.

Sykes’ ordeal began about 2:50 p.m. Thursday when he hopped out of the car at Melrose and Hudson avenues to use a pay telephone, Tiampo said.

“He had left the car unlocked--I don’t know why--but he had also activated the anti-theft alarm,” the detective said.

Sykes rushed back to the car when the alarm sounded seconds later and found the man trying to make off with the stereo.

When Sykes yanked the man out of the car, the thief pulled a handgun and forced him into the back seat, Tiampo said.

“He took his watch and his money and made him get in the trunk,” said Tiampo. “Then he just drove around the city with the guy screaming in the trunk.”

Sykes told investigators he didn’t have “total recall” of his time in the trunk and believes he fainted for brief periods, police said.

“I barely fit in the trunk,” Sykes told a reporter after his harrowing experience.

Police seemed slightly amazed that a man of Sykes’ stature could fit into the trunk of the 1984 BMW 325, one of the German car maker’s smaller models.

But one mechanic at Zipper BMW in Beverly Hills was not surprised.

Herman Schrieber, the dealership’s chief mechanic, said the 325’s trunk is 11 cubic feet with a 57-inch width, a 41-inch depth and a height of 17 inches.

“Sure, it could happen,” said Schrieber, 42. “He would be a little uncomfortable, but he could fit. I have an assistant who’s 6-feet-1 and he has plenty of leg room when he installs (stereo equipment) in the trunk.

“It’s a pretty good-sized trunk, let me tell you,” he said. “The trunk is carpeted and has room--as long as there’s air, he’d be fine.”

Tiampo said the thief opened the trunk occasionally to allow Sykes fresh air.

“I guess he just wanted the radio,” the detective said. “He didn’t want the guy to suffocate and die.”