The News Room [News Release]

Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-213-5162
Release Date: Monday, May 1, 2006

Auto theft sweep leads to raid on business selling phony AAA car insurance policies

A week-long effort by police throughout metro Detroit has resulted not only in the arrest of more than 150 individuals wanted on auto theft related warrants, but the closure of a Detroit auto repair shop that investigators say had been selling phony AAA auto insurance certificates.

On Friday afternoon, officers from the Wayne County Sheriff's Western Wayne Auto Theft Unit raided Theodore's Custom Auto Repair near Gratiot and E. Grand Boulevard and a nearby residence where they seized thousands of copies of the fraudulent insurance certificates, insurance company letterhead and computer equipment believed to have been used to generate them, according to Sheriff Warren C. Evans.

"This case is a perfect example of how our heightened attention to auto theft related crimes has led to other types of fraud investigations," Evans said. After last year's sweep, sheriff's deputies from Wayne and Oakland counties working jointly closed several auto chop shops using intelligence they had gathered from auto thieves they had arrested.

During the past week, more than 150 officers from 44 local, state and federal agencies swarmed metro Detroit rounding up people wanted on auto theft related charges. The effort, called Operation ACTION (Arresting Car Thieves In Our Neighborhoods), is part of a sustained effort to reduce the high rate of auto theft in the region.

In the case of Theodore's auto shop, Evans said deputies again were able to use information received from a car thief they had arrested. Using that information, undercover officers were successful in making three purchases of the phony AAA insurance certificates over the past several weeks. Each time the officer was charged $45 for the certificate, which is significantly less than purchasing an actual insurance policy. Insurance company investigators inspected the purchased certificates and verified they were fraudulent.

Officers raided the store, as well as the nearby residence where the suspect, a 51-year-old Detroit man who goes by the nickname of "Old School," went to produce the certificates.

Inside the home, investigators fouEvans said he expect more cases to come to fruition in the next several weeks as a result of Operation ACTION follow up investigations.

Offenses include: Murder, Assault with Intent to Murder, Armed Robbery, Operating a Chop Shop, Possession of a stolen motor vehicle, B&E of a motor vehicle, auto theft, receiving & concealing stolen property, false title and others.

Confiscations (Operation ACTION)
4 rifles, 2 handguns, 2 brass knuckles, 3 knives, 4 computer systems, 8 boxes of fraudulent insurance policies, 10 vehicles (valued at $131,000)