Last summer the St. Paul Police Department’s Auto Theft Unit uncovered nearly a dozen illegal tow truck drivers who were stealing cars and scrapping them for cash at one primary automobile scrap metal operation in the Twin Cities. In the wake of this investigation, more than 10 people were criminally charged through the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in connection with stealing more than 100 vehicles. To this date, eight of those individuals have pleaded guilty with others awaiting trial.
Investigators determined there were three schemes involved:
- The first scheme involved thieves who used “spotters” to identify vehicles to steal, These individuals then called tow truck drivers and “sold” them the stolen vehicles that were then towed away to the automobile scrap processor.
- The second scheme involved tow drivers who themselves stole vehicles and sold them to the automobile scrap metal processor
- A third scheme involved the theft of vehicles by individuals who drove them to automobile metal recyclers and sold them for scrap.
In some cases, the vehicles had been scrapped within hours of being stolen. No vehicle titles or proof of ownership were given before the suspects who brought the vehicles in were reimbursed for the scrap metal. Thanks in large part to this investigation, the city found a decrease of 9.4 percent in auto theft in 2011 compared to 2010.
Current law also does not establish a standard for record keeping. Nor does it proof of ownership in such cases for vehicles more than six years old. Simply put, Minnesota law does not allow for enough consumer protection against practices that truly impact innocent families.
A group of local experts convened to look at changes to the law based on lessons learned during the St. Paul Police Department’s investigation. This group consisted of members from the Ramsey & Hennepin County Attorney’s offices, the Saint Paul City Attorney’s Office, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department, Saint Paul & Minneapolis Police Departments, the City of Saint Paul, Ramsey County, the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association, Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, Minnesota Chiefs of Police, Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and the Minnesota Insurance Federation.
The proposed legislation would implement the following:
- Require proof of ownership of all motor vehicles at time of sale;
- Set industry standards for record keeping and offer automobile scrap dealers more oversight in tracking property to help law enforcement fight these crimes;
- Share
the information with law enforcement in a timely manner, thus strengthening the ability of law enforcement to investigate; - Call for utilizing existing legislation to authorize the expansion of the Automated Pawn System (APS) to put the burden of discovery on law enforcement rather than forcing dealers to discern what are legitimate sales, and to offer standardized reporting to state and national agencies;
- Prohibit payment over $300 on site in order to establish seller credentials and for better accounting;
- Allow for a 15 day hold before crushing vehicles that do not have a proof of ownership to allow for stolen vehicles to be recovered;
- Increase penalties for dealers that knowingly violate the statute; and
- Provide greater victim and consumer protection.
Representative Carol McFarlane (53B) is expected to sponsor this legislation during the current legislative session. Information on bills and other actions by the Minnesota State Legislature, and contact information for your legislators can be found at http://www.leg.state.mn.us.
This information is from the St. Paul Police Department.
