- Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:34 pm
#23401
So on our local forum here in AZ (AZHT.NET) there is a detective for a theft unit that registered and posts updates for us, makes me happy to know they are trying to something, and actually taking time to post on a forum with updates!...............here is his latest post......
TPD_Auto_Theft_Unit
Please copy and post on any website that might be interested in this information
The Tucson Police in conjunction with several adjoining agencies has been conducting an ongoing investigation involving the theft, parting out and selling of import vehicles. Originally we were hoping for a clear end to the investigation at which point we would release the results, but that is not the going to happen. To this date there have been numerous arrests of persons involved in these cases. The following arrests have been made.
Keep in mind that these are only arrests NOT CONVICTIONS. If you want further information it is available through the court system, a lot of it available online. Please reserve judgement until you have read all the information, some of these cases are very complicated and you might find that you do not agree with the detective/ prosecutor/ grand jury’s decision.
This is not a complete list but these are the people that have been arrested. Some names have been withheld for investigative reasons and arrests are ongoing.
We are tracking down property that all of these individuals had control over or sold. If you are in control of property that came from these people you want to contact us. There is no better time than now to contact us with any suspicious property. I cannot tell you what is going to happen, each case is different.
I through this investigation I have found that this problem is not going to be solved by arrests alone. These cars are too easy to steal, part out, and resell. You can have far more impact on this problem than we can have. Here is a list of idea’s that at the very least will not hurt.
1. Make a list of all your part on your vehicle. Almost everything is marked in some manor. If you have parts numbers each individual part can be entered into the system as stolen.
2. Spend money on security for your car. Layer your security, start with the easy and visible steering wheel locking type device. A car alarm is good, while they don’t get the attention anymore it often wakes the victim up. Get a kill switch of some sort. Spend the money on this first to protect what you are going to put in the car.
3. Equip the vehicle with LoJack type tracking device.
Next big improvement that needs to be made is with websites. In any sales or buy thread the administrators should consider requiring at a minimum part numbers. It should take very little extra time for a person to list a VIN number, engine number, radio number etc. Also consider making photo’s a requirement. Almost everyone has access to a camera phone at the very least. This will make it very easy for a victim to search for his/her parts. There are obviously other ways to sell the parts but the harder you make it on thieves the less they are going to be doing this. Almost all of the people you see on the list above did what they did because it was easy and profitable. The harder you make it on them the less it is going to happen. There are certain people that we are never going to stop except with long jail sentences, but let us work on that.
As a community you have to decide if you are going to tolerate thieves. What I mean by that is during interviews with people they brought up the fact that certain subjects are known thieves. The victims/witnesses give two main reasons for not coming forward, they were scared or they did not want to be ‘narc’s’. If you start turning people in you can make the thieves be the ones that are scared, not the other way around. A quick overview of ‘narc’s’ that is a drug world term for a person that is involved in drug dealing/using that turns in another dealer almost always for their own personal gain. If you are not involved in stealing cars then it’s not ‘narcing’ on someone to alert authorities.
Another large issue has come up with the lack of knowledge involving VIN laws. All laws are available online. One thing to keep in mind is that the VIN is the vehicle. If it cannot be registered than the vehicle has no value, the parts might be worth something but not the vehicle. YOU CANNOT remove any identifying features on the vehicle yourself. And when I say CANNOT I mean that it is a felony if you do. There are NO exceptions to this. If you want to swap a dash or do something that requires the removal of a VIN you have to contact an MVD inspector who will walk you through the procedure. This includes the federal label on the door, the public VIN plate, any secondary stamped VIN’s and on some transmissions their on VIN plates on the transmission.
Know the background on your vehicle. If you buy it make sure the sellers name is on the title. Consider doing the transaction at MVD or a third party business to make sure that everything is okay right then and there and put it in your name. If your going to put a lot of money into the car consider changing the door locks and ignition. Its not that expensive and buying a used car you have no idea how many copies of the keys have been made.
If you buy a U.S.D.M. motor remember it came out of a car. Find out all the information you can on what car it came out of. I recommend getting a copy of the title that engine originally belonged to. Make sure the sellers information is on that title, at a minimum hand written on the title.
These are just some of the issues that have come up. Please discuss this amongst yourselves and contact me with questions. I do not have time to read all the reply’s to this.
I am always available for questions or comments. Best way to get ahold of me is email, steven.simmers@tucsonaz.gov. You can leave a message for me at 520-791-4499 ex. 1738.
