Two Atlanta area men are accused of scamming recyclers into paying them for dozens of cars the two had stolen, by turning in VIN numbers stolen from cars already junked.
Investigators believe Jonathan Cornelius Arnold, 37, and Donell Latwis Davis, 22, both of Decatur, pocketed $500 to $600 per vehicle.
Atlanta police Major Darryl Tolleson said Arnold and Davis would go to scrap yards after stealing vehicles and find others of the same make and model. Then they’d steal the VIN number from the scrapped vehicle, place it on the stolen vehicle and head to a recycler. The recyclers would run a search on the VIN number before paying cash for the metal.
“A vehicle can only reach it’s end-of-life cycle once, but somehow these 23 vehicles were showing up as being recycled twice,” Tolleson said Wednesday. The men allegedly stole six other cars in Rockdale County, where one of the recycling centers is.
Police say the men targeted vehicles more than 12 years old because those are generally easier to steal and no title is needed to sell them, according to police.
Police believe the scam is a new trend throughout the country.
Atlanta police and Rockdale County sheriff’s deputies began an investigation in March. Arnold and Davis face numerous felony charges. Arnold has been arrested and is being held in the Rockdale County jail without bond. Davis remains at large. “We are looking for him and I believe he knows it,” Tolleson said.
Both have criminal histories, records show. Arnold has served three sentences in state prisons for armed robbery, theft and aggravated assault, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. Arnold was released from Telfair State Prison in December 2011, records show.
Davis was scheduled to be arraigned in April on a felony theft charge in DeKalb County, but did not show up in court, records show.
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