Woman’s Wheels Fall Off While Driving After Lug Nuts Are Stolen

The last thing you expect when you go to pull out of your driveway is for the wheels of your car to start falling off. But Tessa Sturm had that exact situation after all 20 of her lug nuts were stolen off her bright red Dodge Charger.

The line dancing instructor from Nashville, TN bought the sports car with her fiance in 2017. The couple recently got married in November, a marriage so recent that “Just Married,” is still written across the back window of the car.

Thieves quickly brought that honeymoon period to an end. First, on New Years Day they made off with all 20 lug nuts on Tessa’s car. She noticed the problem when backing out of a parking spot at her apartment complex, “My husband just goes ‘Stop!’ and I get out of the car and the wheels are falling off.”

The couple called around to area repair shops and auto dealers but no one had lug nuts for the Dodge Charger in stock. In the two days it took to ship the parts, thieves again struck the Sturms, this time though they took the tires.

Tessa isn’t alone in being the target of this bizarre crime. Since Christmas, Nashville Metro Police say they received at least two other reports of people having their lug nuts stolen.

Only adding insult to injury, Tessa’s apartment complex “The Trails” near Percy Priest Lake, have told her she has to have the un-driveable car off the property by Wednesday or it will be towed.