EXCLUSIVE: Woman's vehicle stolen from Concord car wash after employee gives keys to wrong person

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- A nightmare situation unfolding for a woman at the Autopia car wash in Concord after her car was stolen in front of her eyes.

"I'm hoping it was a mistake, but to me, it was a pretty bad mistake."

On July 20, Shannon Orton took her car in to be cleaned.

She says she sat and waited for it to be finished. But, when it was done:

"Within the matter of a couple of seconds, I watched my car legitimately drive off the lot. They legitimately gave my keys to someone else," Orton said.

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Orton says after the initial shock wore off, she went inside to talk to the staff- telling them that one of their employees had given the keys to the wrong person.

"The lady that was at the customer service went up to the guy who was cleaning my car and asked where the Subaru was. And he just stood there like this," Orton said.

Police were called and Orton filed a report.

She says, while she hasn't seen the footage herself, officers told her that surveillance video shows a person with a hat, glasses and face masking getting into her vehicle and driving away.

Orton says she's unsure of what to think now, but wonders how the car wash made this mistake.

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"They didn't check for claim tickets, they didn't check for any of that. This should have never happened," Orton said.

But regardless of what happened, the error will cost Orton thousands of dollars.

She's now got to buy a new car, and her insurance will only pay a small amount.

"I was almost done paying off my car, and now I have to start all over," Orton said.

ABC7 News spoke with staff inside Autopia car wash Saturday afternoon.

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They told us none of the employees working at the time when Orton's car was stolen were present. We left our number and were told a manager would call back.

So for now, Orton is just taking it day by day.

Trying to warn others to be careful, to ensure the same thing doesn't potentially happen to them.

"I don't think I could ever go to one of those places again. Definitely not Autopia. Honestly any of those. I think I'm going to be nervous about it forever," she said.

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