Bride Tracks Down Car Thief and Saves Her Own Wedding

A Massachusetts couple almost saw their big day ruined when their fully packed car was stolen just as they were about to head to Vermont for their wedding. Thanks to some quick thinking from the bride, the car — and her dress — were recovered.

Julia Pallis and her fiancé, Boston firefighter Collin Tully, were getting ready to leave their home in the Boston area on the morning of 28 August when everything went wrong. Their car was crammed with boxes, drinks, decorations and Pallis’ wedding gown. Tully said he left the car running while he popped inside to get her, but when they came back out, it had vanished.

“In what could only have been a minute, minute and a half tops, between going back inside and telling her that the car was loaded up, ready to go, and then walked outside to not having a car anymore,” he told WHDH.

Pallis immediately started running through what had been taken. “I was thinking obviously about all the things in the car. ‘Oh my wallet, I should turn off my cards,’” she recalled. “And then I thought, ‘Oh my laptop is in there, such a bummer.’ Then I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I can track my laptop!’”

That realisation changed everything. She jumped into her personal car and began following the thief, using her laptop’s tracking system to guide her. She gave police live updates as she chased through the Boston suburbs.

“She acted quickly, got in her personal car, and tracked the car until police cruisers could eventually catch up to her. She was giving them live reports,” Tully said.

At one point, the stolen car even drove straight past a police officer working a detail shift. Pallis flagged her down. “Honestly, that officer who was driving the detail, we owe her our whole wedding. She’s the MVP,” Pallis said. “We’re thanking our lucky stars for her.”

Bridgewater police said they were notified at around 8:42 a.m. that the car had entered their town. With Pallis still sending updates, officers from Bridgewater and neighbouring East Bridgewater tracked it down and arrested the driver, identified as 31-year-old Jason Grossett.

All of the stolen items, including the wedding dress, were recovered intact. No one was hurt. Grossett now faces several charges, including failure to stop for police, reckless driving and operating with a suspended licence.

Tully praised his bride-to-be’s composure under pressure. “I’m sure maybe inside, she was a little angry, but she was a rock star on the outside for sure,” he told WHDH.

The couple made it to their wedding as planned. For Pallis, the ordeal only confirmed they were doing the right thing. “[We’re] even more confident after going through this than we were before that,” she said. “We’re making the right choice.”