A custom-built 2025 Range Rover intended for Shaquille O’Neal was stolen in Georgia earlier this month, before it could be delivered to O’Neal. Investigators are still working to locate the vehicle, which is valued at $180,000.
“It was in transit from California to here, to have some fabrication done to it here in Dahlonega,” Lumpkin County (Ga.) Sheriff Stacy Jarrard told The Athletic. Lumpkin County is about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta.
“From this location, it had to go to another drop point in which, in transit, it came missing,” Jarrard said. “And due to this being the last-known location of it is the reason we have the report, and so we’re investigating and trying to, one, retrieve the vehicle back, and two, hopefully make an arrest on who took the vehicle.”
After the SUV was stolen, according to the sheriff’s office, the luxury vehicle is believed to have been brought to metro Atlanta. The vehicle was supposed to be transported to Baton Rouge, La., for O’Neal to use while he attended LSU’s home football game against Texas A&M last Saturday. It never arrived.
O’Neal hired California-based Effortless Motors to modify the Range Rover to accommodate his 7-foot-1 height, among other upgrades. The company’s spokesperson, Ahmad Abdelrahman, told CBS Atlanta that they had arranged to transport the vehicle through FirstLine Trucking LLC, and that the shipping company said its computer system had been hacked around the time of the theft.
Effortless Motors confirmed to The Athletic that the business is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that could help investigators recover the missing SUV.
Jarrard said that O’Neal has been directly involved with the investigation. “One hundred percent, he cooperated,” the sheriff said. “Shaquille O’Neal spoke with an investigator with the case, filed a report of it missing, and (has shown) complete cooperation. He’s hopeful someone is caught and faces the consequences.”
He added that investigators remain determined to catch those responsible. “We have search warrants for information to try to identify people of interest,” he said.