John Travolta's vintage Mercedes stolen in Santa Monica

After parking his vintage Mercedes Benz 280-SL on a residential street in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon, John Travolta stopped in at a nearby Jaguar dealership for about 10 minutes.

But that's all the time it took for a thief to act, Travolta learned when he returned about 3:46 p.m. to find an empty parking spot where he had left the 1970 sports car in the 1400 block of Berkeley Street, said Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis.

"It's a grand theft auto investigation for a crime that happened in a 10-minute window," Lewis said.

It was not known whether the theft was captured on video because Travolta parked in a residential area and walked to the Jaguar dealership on Olympic Boulevard. Also unclear was whether the thief or thieves had followed Travolta or just happened upon the empty vehicle.

"I don't want to speculate because it's very early in the investigation," Lewis said.

Travolta had the keys with him at the time of the theft. Sources said the car could be worth at least $35,000 but some websites put the actual market value as much as three times that amount because it is a vintage vehicle.

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-- Andrew Blankstein

twitter.com/anblanx

Photo: John Travolta at the pilot's seat of one of his airplanes. Credit: Heather Faulkner / AFP/Getty Images