Employees look at a BMW car at an auto show in Shanghai on September 28. Photo: VCG

A car thief was sentenced to 10 years and fined 50,000 yuan ($7,234) for stealing a BMW X5, but what impressed the police and the public was how patient he was stealing the vehicle. 

Zhang, from Rizhao, East China's Shandong Province, found a key to a BMW when he worked as a server in a local restaurant in early 2018. 

He slyly asked his colleagues and acquaintances about the car owner-guest to find out where the man lives. 

After determining the general location of the owner's residence, Zhang staked out the area and tried the key's remote function to engage the car whenever he caught sight of a BMW. 

His patience paid off three months later on May 25, 2018, and he simply drove the car away. He then attached fake plates and drove the SUV to his hometown in Shandong Province. 

He enjoyed showing off his high-end luxury vehicle for about two weeks before being caught by police in June 2018. 

A Net user on Sina Weibo said if the man had only applied his patience to doing something legal, he surely would have made a success of himself. 

Global Times