Feb 1, 2007 10:28 pm US/Central
Scrapped: Cars Stolen And Sold To The Junkyard
Legal Loophole May Allow Car Thieves To Sell Cars For Scrap
by Pam Zekman
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Car thefts are way up in Chicago. Car owners' complaints to the CBS 2 Investigators may shed new light on what is happening to many of those missing vehicles. They are stolen to be scrapped.
CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports it is a scam that could be costing millions of dollars a year.
Thousands of cars a year are sold for scrap at companies like Metal Management Scrap Yard on the city's south side.
But Richard Perez couldn't believe it when he saw his wife's station wagon on a pile of cars at Metal Management scrap yard last month.
He saw it while driving to pick up his wife at the nearby Metra station. She'd gotten off the train and discovered her legally parked car was gone.
"It was stolen," said Gail Perez. "We didn't know how. We didn't know why."
Records given to Perez by Metal Management show the car was towed in by Dwain Brown.
Brown has three convictions for trespassing or possessing stolen vehicles. Metal Management also had a document indicating Brown represented A&B Auto Wreckers.
"And I couldn't believe it. They said that registration form gives them the right to deal in vehicles. They're allowed to take those cars. That's wrong," Richard Perez said.
Our investigation found a loophole in the law that allows car thieves to get away with selling a stolen car for scrap.
Licensed auto parts recyclers -- like A&B -- can sell the car for scrap with just a so-called uniform invoice.
It does not prove ownership and can be easily falsified.
A spokesman for Metal Management says it has a uniform invoice from A&B for Tennille Moore's car.
Last April Moore says she parked it legally.
"When I went back to get it, it wasn't there," Moore said.
She filed a vehicle theft report at the police station.
"A man outside the police station was telling me how people are out there stealing cars and taking them to the scrap yard," she said.
By the time she got there it was too late.
"I saw my car crushed with all my belongings in it," Moore said. "I was real mad, I was crying, I was in tears when I was down there."
After we showed our findings to Secretary of State Police Lt. James Murphy, he said there need to be some legislative changes.
"Unfortunately the way the statutes are written there's loopholes there, there are things that need to be addressed," Murphy said.
Now Moore and Perez, whose car was badly damaged by the scrap yard claw, want more than just to be reimbursed for their losses
"I believe that there should be a state investigation," Perez said.
"If there are any criminal violations found those who violated the law will be prosecuted to the full extent," Murphy said.
Meanwhile Perez wonders how many others may have had their cars stolen and scrapped.
"They can pull them in here and make a couple of hundred dollars. And the people they don't spot the car, it's lost," Perez said.
A spokesman for Metal Management says the company recycles 200,000 cars a year and follows all state regulations.
He blamed any irregularities on tow truck or auto junk yard operators who may be violating the law.
The owner of A&B Auto Wreckers and the tow truck driver involved in these cases could not be reached for comment.
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