More Fake Cop Cars...

A Sherman woman who was stopped, handcuffed and had her car searched by a man impersonating a police officer did not identify the men arrested in connection with two similar cases in Dallas County and Fairfax County in Virginia.

Anna police Lt. Howard Day said Friday that the woman, whose identity has not been released, failed to identify the men in a photo lineup in the two similar but now separate cases.

The woman told police that on July 14, a man in a makeshift police car and uniform pulled her over for a broken taillight on U.S. 75 near the Mantua Road exit, placed her in handcuffs and conducted a search of her purse and her car. She also said he spoke her driver’s license number into a portable radio, but no one talked back, Day said.

The officer took her out of the handcuffs, ordered her to get her taillights fixed and drove away. The woman told police she then realized her taillights were not broken. Nothing of value was reported as stolen and the officer did not harm the woman during the traffic stop, Day said.

The woman described the officer’s vehicle as a white car with police markings on the side and domed, clear red and blue reflecting lights. She also said the officer wore a navy blue or black uniform with a star badge over his left shirt pocket and no other identifying markers or badges, Day said.

Dallas County sheriff’s deputies arrested another man in a similar car and clothing on July 18. Police pulled the vehicle over around 4:30 p.m. on U.S. 20 for traveling at a high rate of speed. He first thought the vehicle was another police officer, but noticed the vehicle had unfamiliar looking insignia and he initiated a traffic stop, according to a statement released by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle looked as though it was outfitted like any normal police cruiser, but upon closer inspection he noticed the vehicle’s radio was a scanner and the dash-camera was fake. The deputy also later found a separate fake camera on the ceiling and a black BB pistol with orange paint scraped off of the barrel, according to the statement.

The driver, 40-year-old Malcolm Hawkinson, did not present the deputy with the appropriate insurance card and the registration did not match the owner’s information. He was also found to be a registered sex offender and was booked into the county jail on some misdemeanor class C violations and was later released. The owner of the vehicle, whose name was not released, said he operates a repossession company and the modifications to the vehicle were made to ensure the safety of his employees, according to the statement.

The following day, Anna police investigators began looking into a second case in Fairfax County, Va., in which a 17-year-old woman from South Riding, Va., was assaulted by a man claiming to be a police officer, Day said.

The impersonator pulled the unidentified woman over around 11:50 p.m. July 19 in a shopping center parking lot in Chantilly, Va., approached the vehicle and asked her to step out of the car. When she complied, the impersonator pushed her against her vehicle and touched her in an inappropriate manner. She screamed and began honking the car’s horn and the suspect fled the scene. Police later arrested 36-year-old Frank Antia, who was spotted driving a vehicle with police lights and a partially covered Texas license plate, according to a statement released by the Fairfax County Police Department’s public information office.

Day said investigators the Sherman woman did not identify the men in either case as the man who pulled her over July 14.

“We have not identified the driver of that vehicle yet,” Day said.

Day said if someone is being pulled over and is unsure if the officer pulling them over is a real officer, they can call 9-1-1 and speak to a dispatcher to confirm their identity.

“We don’t anticipate any backlash,” Day said. “Our officers are always in full uniform, so hopefully this is a one time thing and this goes away.”

American Equipment Leasing. LLC

This is my response to Mr. Partridge concerning the post on Repoman.com about American Equipment not paying their vendors:

Author: Dave Branch/The American Repossessor
Subject: Mr. Partridge...

With all of this talk about lawsuits and litigations, I have seen nothing factual in nature. With that being said, would you be so kind as to elucidate the following:

Snap-on Credit, LLC vs. Tyler Partridge - North Carolina #20040067857M

Fifth Third Bank vs. American Equipment Leasing - North Carolina #20050045633K

Sun Trust Bank vs. American Equipment Leasing - North Carolina # 20040104448J

Washington Mutual Bank vs. American Equipment Leasing - North Carolina #20050036029J

And filed just last week, Dealer Services Corporation vs. American Equipment Leasing - North Carolina #20070067443E

While you are ruminating on that, perhaps you can tell us all where you, personally, will be on the morning of August 06, 2007 in Charlotte, County of Mecklenberg, North Carolina and why?

I haven't even cracked the surface of this yet, but smell quite an article brewing. And I haven't even spoke of Florida yet.

Anyone interested may reach me this weekend @ 336-342-7587

Have an outstanding weekend!

Dave Branch

[EDIT] I liked your statement "The only time lawsuits are necessary is when we have to defend what is right".

Recovery Agent Uses Fake Cop Car Is Sex Offender

The markings on the car were so believable, they fooled real law-enforcement officials.

A Dallas County sheriff's deputy was on Interstate 20 near Bonnie View Road late Wednesday afternoon when he thought he saw a police car zip past him.

"At first glance, he thought it was another police agency on a hot call," said Michael Ortiz, spokesman for the Dallas County Sheriff's Department. "But he took a closer look at the decals on the car, and it wasn't any agency that he had seen before."

The deputy pulled the driver over for speeding. He and others who arrived at the scene soon became more suspicious.

The decals on the car simply said "Dallas, Texas" but were designed in a way that looked very similar to those on sheriff's deputy cars. The driver had a BB gun fashioned to look like a police gun. The dashboard camera was fake and mounted with Velcro. Deputy Ortiz said investigators also found handcuffs, a walkie-talkie and a scanner set to monitor county law-enforcement channels.

Authorities arrested the driver, Malcolm Hawkinson, 39, for having an improper vehicle registration and failing to show adequate insurance. Investigators might file a charge of impersonating a peace officer if they determine Mr. Hawkinson intended to mislead anyone into thinking he was an officer.

Mr. Hawkinson, a registered sex offender, was released from the Lew Sterrett Justice Center on a "promise to appear" citation. Details of that charge were not available. Mr. Hawkinson could not be reached for comment.

Sheriff's deputies called the vehicle's owner, who owns a car repossession business.

"He said he put the decals on the vehicle, but he did it for the protection of his employees," Deputy Ortiz said. "He finds there is less resistance when [people] are approached by someone they think is a police officer."

The Sheriff's Department declined to identify the owner, who was not arrested.

"It's not against the law to possess a vehicle with the insignia," Deputy Ortiz said. "What makes it against the law is how you use it." He noted that the owner was not caught using the vehicle.

By Thursday afternoon, the Sheriff's Department received several calls from women who said they were treated inappropriately during traffic stops. Officials had not determined whether the cases are linked to Mr. Hawkinson.

Authorities also were investigating documents found from the traffic stop.

"There were papers that were drawn up to look like repossession paperwork," Deputy Ortiz said. "They were crimped with some seal and drawn up to look official. We're looking to see if that paperwork is really official [or] whether this was auto theft."

Breach of Peace

ST. PETERSBURG - The repossession of a 1995 Jeep Cherokee degenerated quickly Thursday and left the vehicle's owner in the hospital and the repo man in jail.

Mick McFadyen, 42, owner of the Jeep Cherokee, was at Bayfront Medical Center in serious condition, though his injuries are not life-threatening.

James Dean Anderson, 44, was in jail on charges of reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and driving on a suspended or revoked license.

It all began about 10 a.m. in the back yard of a home at 4470 57th Ave. N.

Anderson, of St. Petersburg, arrived at the home with Timothy McDevitt, the owner of the car lot that was trying to repossess the car. Anderson apparently got into the Jeep, which was parked in the back yard, and tried to drive it away, said Sgt. Jim Bordner of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

McFadyen jumped in front of the car. So Anderson put it in reverse and began backing toward the west side of the home. McFadyen ran after it and tried to reach into the driver's side window to get the keys. He was run over, with at least one wheel running over his torso, Bordner said.

Anderson then pulled away in the Jeep. He called into the Sheriff's Office to report that he'd repossessed the car, as required by law. By that time, paramedics had arrived and transported McFadyen to the hospital.

A deputy went to Exceptional Car & Truck Sales at 4580 49th St. N. in St. Petersburg to interview Anderson, who admitted his involvement, Bordner said.

McDevitt, the owner of the car lot, said in a phone interview that he did not see Anderson "do anything wrong." But he wouldn't say anything more about the incident.

"I need to talk to an attorney," McDevitt said. "I don't know where I stand in this situation."

Anderson was driving on a suspended license for failure to pay a traffic fine, records show. McFadyen was to be sentenced next week for violating his probation related to an earlier arrest for writing worthless checks.

Florida law says a repossession must be stopped if the owner of the car resists, Bordner said.

"If there is an objection by the owner or a breach of peace, the repossessor has to take civil action," Bordner said. "The law is very clear on this. It's clear what everyone's role is and at that point you have to disengage from the repossession."

Recovery Agent Charged In Death - Houston Update

Wearing a white T-shirt, gold chain, and khaki baseball cap with the Playboy bunny embroidered on it Alvin Corbello can’t explain what happened fast enough.

"There's not one day that goes by that I just can't believe Glenn's in jail for this," the 40-year-old said.

He is animated, talks with his hands, and speaks fast. Corbello says the last two weeks have been tough mentally after what he experienced.

His friend Glenn Lee Smith, 34, is charged with manslaughter and so far unable to post bond at the Harris County Jail.

Prosecutors believe Smith, a wrecker driver, ran over and killed a Cathy Deemer at a Baytown RV Park on June 23 while repossessing her car. According to the probable cause statement, Deemer’s estranged husband hired Smith to take Deemer’s car “to use as a bartering chip to force [Deemer] to give up possession of a recreational vehicle the husband also owned.”

"Yeah I thought everything was OK,” recalled Corbello. “I thought ‘good.’ Because when you're doing a repo it's kind of scary."

Corbello was also in Smith's tow truck that night. For the first time he told his story to 11News.

Though he heard Deemer yelling and chasing the wrecker, Corbello says he and Smith quickly lifted the vehicle, puts theirs in gear and left like they do for all repossessions.

As they pulled out on to the paved road from the gravel driveway the wrecker shifted, Corbello remembered, and the screaming stopped. He said he thought they had just picked up enough speed to outrun her screams. Corbello said neither man had any idea Deemer had been hurt.

"No! No, no, no. That's not in Glenn's nature and it's not mine either,” he stated emphatically.

Still, Smith faces a felony after initially denying he was involved.

"Even though he may have to do some jail out of this he doesn't deserve a bad title. A bad name. A bad title and he doesn't deserve a bad label to go with this because Glenn is not a bad guy," Corbello said of his friend.

For his part, Corbello isn't in trouble.
Though he can't clear Glenn Smith's name he insists the wrecker driver didn't hurt Deemer intentionally.

Idiot Of The Week

It was the definition of a really bad day for an Oakdale woman. She parked her car at work, came out later and it was gone.

When the woman told police about it they didn't believe her, because of what the thief had told them first.

"He notified the Bloomington police department he was going to repossess a car. Then he went out and stole the car," said Doug Johnson, Washington County Attorney.

But when the car finally turned up in Maplewood, the suspect's con game was revealed.

It started in a Bloomington parking lot for Health Partners. The woman found only an empty space where she had parked her car. While she was at work, the car thief was busy. He was calling police.

"It was different. I can't say it was creative, because it didn't work," said Johnson.

Investigators say Donald Alexander Steele was acting as a repo man. He copied the woman's VIN and license plate number, got himself a key and told Bloomington Police he'd taken possession of the woman's minivan and took off.

"He got stopped here in Washington County where he was charged with possession of stolen property which was the car, and also for stealing the car."

"I don't know how my uncle could do that to somebody," said Amanda Schnagl, Steele's niece.

Schnagl says she kicked him out a year ago for running a scam out of her house.

"He goes around to find a car to drive around for a couple of weeks," she said.

The owner of Kia Auto Sales says he worked with Steele in the past, and thought his repo business called W.I.T. Recovery was legitimate, until a few years ago.

"He was stealing money from customers. He was going to make a deal with customers," said Moe Kia of Kia Auto Sales.

Prosecutors and people who knew Steele say he would repossess a car, then hold it for ransom. Investigators say he told his latest victim he'd give her back her minivan if she paid him $640.

The County Attorney says Steele's essentially kidnapping cars, but maybe not this time. His next hearing is on the July 17.

Steele's criminal history includes convictions for forgery and domestic abuse among other things. Johnson says people who think they may have been Steele's victim in the past should call police.

Twist To The Story

A father and son are in Wilson County Jail after a car repossession led first to gunfire, then fisticuffs and finally criminal homicide, according to a sheriff's detective.

Willie Clyde Mooneyham, 56, is charged with criminal homicide. His son, Zachary Mooneyham, 27, is charged with aggravated assault.


John Wayne Gribbins, 36, the repo man, is dead.

According to Wilson County detective Lt. Ricky Knight, the series of events began when Gribbins, of Vesta Road in Wilson County, went to repossess Zachary Mooneyham's vehicle Thursday afternoon in Rutherford County.

"Shots were fired by Willie (Mooneyham)" during the repossession, Knight said.

Gribbins took the car anyway, and he returned to his residence in Wilson County.

Confrontation heated up

Thursday evening, Zachary Mooneyham went to Vesta Road and confronted Gribbins, Knight said. "There was a physical altercation between Gribbins and Zachary there," he said.

"A short time afterward, Willie shows up at the same location and they (Gribbins and the elder Mooneyham) got into an altercation using vehicles as weapons and guns as weapons," said Knight, adding that the only gun in the car fight was apparently Willie Mooneyham's.

"John Gribbins was struck by the gunfire," said Knight of the man who died after the 8 p.m. shooting.

An all-night manhunt was launched and with the help of Rutherford County Sheriff's Department officers, Willie Mooneyham was arrested at his residence about 7 or 7:30 a.m. Friday.

Metro police assisted in arresting the son, who was discovered Friday afternoon at his girlfriend's home in Nashville.

Bail has been set at $5,000 on Zachary Mooneyham.

No bail has been set for Willie Mooneyham.

Yet Another Recovery Related Death

Nashville, Tennessee

A Rutherford County father and son face charges in the shooting death Friday of a Wilson County wrecker driver, said Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe.

Father Willie Mooneyham, 57, of 7574 Couchville Pike in Rutherford County is expected to be charged in the shooting death of wrecker driver John Gribbins, 37, of Lebanon, the sheriff said. Mooneyham’s son, Zach, was expected to be charged as an accessory to the death.

“All this is over the repossession of an old Jeep with the value probably less than $500,” Ashe said.

When Gribbins repossessed Zach Mooneyham’s Jeep, Willie Mooneyham allegedly shot at Gribbins, the sheriff said. Later, Zach Mooneyham showed up and got into a fight with Gribbins at his home. Willie Mooneyham was accused of shooting Gribbins in the head with a shotgun and possibly a handgun. Two other people witnessed the shooting.

Wilson County officers asked Rutherford County deputies to apprehend Willie Mooneyham at his home.

Rutherford Sheriff’s Detective Troy Hooker said the Felony Apprehension and Search Tactical team was activated about 4:30 Friday morning. Deputies surrounded the home while FAST members tried to get Mooneyham to answer the door. When he refused, they entered the home with a search warrant.

“He was in the bedroom,” Hooker said. “He was alone.”

Mooneyham was taken into custody. Patrol officers found a shotgun on the porch.

Ashe said the shotgun was the one believed used in the shooting. A handgun was located too.

Metropolitan Nashville Police helped apprehend the son in Nashville.

Ashe said he appreciated the help from Rutherford County sheriff’s office and Nashville Police.

Another Recovery Related Death

Greenwood, Indiana

A Greenwood man was killed in a car wreck early this morning after he sped away from a man trying to repossess his car, according to a police report.

Robert R. Parks, 54, crashed into a utility pole after speeding through a curve and losing control of the 2006 Chevy HHR he was driving near the intersection of Peterman Road and Smith Valley Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Department gave the following account:
About five minutes after police arrived on the scene shortly after 2:15 a.m., Diversified Recovery agent Richard Young came upon the accident. He told police that he had been hooking the rear wheels of a blue 2006 Chevy HHR onto a lift at Friendly Village trailer park and was about to drive off when he saw some movement and the brake lights of the vehicle. The car then was driven off the lift and through the trailer park at a high rate of speed, the agent told officers.
The agent told police he was going to proceed to his next recovery and drove southbound on Peterman Road when he came across the accident scene involving the same blue 2006 Chevy HHR.
Police identified the driver as Parks, the name of the person whose vehicle Young was supposed to recover.
A coroner drew blood for a toxicology screening as part of the accident investigatio

Teaxans and Car Payments

Texans love their cars and trucks – but apparently not enough to keep up with their loan payments.

Credit bureau Experian released a report in June saying that Texans had the lowest average Experian credit score – 592 – for people with at least one late auto loan payment.

The score range is 330 to 830.

The national average credit score for consumers with no late auto payments is 703, while the average score for consumers with at least one late payment is 605.

Texans with no late auto loan payments had an average credit score of 679.

Experian has conducted previous studies on this issue, but the figures can't be compared because the sampling methods are different. The data for the current report was gathered in April.

"The large glaring reason is that delinquencies in Texas [in auto loans] tend to be higher," said Peter Bolin, manager of analytics at Experian.

Thirteen percent of the Texas population with auto loans had at least one serious delinquency – such as a charge-off or vehicle repossession – on their credit reports. The national average is 9 percent, he said.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, the average credit score for consumers with no late auto loan payments was 680 vs. 590 for those with at least one late payment.

"The point to consumers is, here's an example of how once you're late on your auto trade line [auto loan], look at what happens to your score," Mr. Bolin said.

Another Shooting

A repossession man was reportedly shot at by a man with a shotgun this morning while trying to hook a Lincoln to his flatbed truck, police said.

George Edwards, 37, of Syracuse, was working with two other men from Auto Tech Repossession just before 12:45 a.m., recovering a 2002 white Lincoln LS at 116 Burnet Ave. when the incident occurred, Sgt. Tom Connellan said. Nobody was hurt.

As the workers backed the truck up to the car, a man stuck his head out of a second-floor window and ordered them away from the car. They noticed he had a shotgun pointed at them. When the man racked the shotgun, the three men got into the car to leave. Then, they heard the blast from the gun, Connellan said.

Kim Orr, 36, of 648 Gifford St., came out of the building with the gun, got into the car and drove off, Edwards told police. Moments later, police found Orr and the car in a garage in the 4200 block of South Salina Street. Orr was charged with felony counts of reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon and also was charged with three counts of menacing.

David Smith Funeral

The funeral for a man shot and killed on a Lexington street Thursday night while he was repossessing a car was held Monday morning.

David Smith, 45, died of multiple gunshot wounds while repossessing a car for Cars R Us, located on Leestown Road, on Laredo Drive in south Lexington at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Brandon Robinson, 20, of Lexington is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence. Robinson allegedly opened fire on the car, smashing out the back window. The car then crashed into a tree.

Smith's funeral was held at the Kerr Brothers Funeral Home on Harrodsburg Road in Lexington at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Robinson's bail was set at $253,000. He is being held in the Fayette County Detention Center.