Mate Rimac Chased Down A Guy Who Stole His Bugatti Chiron In Croatia

For a Croatian man in his mid-30s, seeing a Bugatti Chiron sitting unattended with the keys inside was too hard to resist. The unnamed man stole the Chiron and fled across multiple countries, landing him in global headlines after Bugatti boss Mate Rimac revealed the man stole his very own Chiron. It's a bizarre scenario that sounds like a movie plot, but it's real.

Earlier this week, Mate Rimac parked his dark blue Chiron at the Rimac Campus in Croatia with the key inside. Bugatti's CEO admits he always does this, as engineers are constantly driving and testing the car, so it's easier to just leave the key inside. As it turns out, the campus is completely open to the public, allowing one intrepid car thief to view this as an invitation to go for the joyride of a lifetime.

Security camera footage from the facility shows the hooded man scoping out the Chiron at the back of the Rimac campus. He finishes a cigarette, opens the driver's door, gets inside, and drives off casually. The Rimac team quickly discovered the car was missing, and Mate called the local police. Tracking data showed the Chiron's live location and that it was heading to Slovenia. Mate says he jumped in his Porsche 911 and gave chase.

The boss of Rimac Bugatti couldn't catch the thief as he sped through Slovenia and eventually entered Austria. There, police located the car and arrested him. Mate Rimac adds that as he headed to the same police station where the thief was being held to prove he owned the Chiron, he spoke to him. Bizarrely, the guy said he walked into the Rimac Campus looking for a job before noticing the Chiron was sitting there with the keys. Chances are, he probably thought he had struck gold and that this was the luckiest day of his life. He told Mate he hoped to drive the car to Germany, though it's unclear why.

Police in both Croatia and Austria are expected to file charges and prosecute the thief, given how expensive the car is. Incredibly, the car survived the theft with only a scuffed carbon-fiber front splitter, which the Bugatti team will need to repair. Mate has also learned a valuable lesson that despite how safe Croatia may be, it's never a good idea to leave a car unlocked with the keys inside.