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Two brothers arrested, accused of rolling back odometers on hundreds of vehicles

By Tina Patel
FOX 13 Seattle
Published May 27, 2015 8:59 PM PDT
Published May 27, 2015 8:59 PM PDT

BREMERTON -- Two men were in custody Wednesday night, accused of rolling back the odometers on hundreds of older cars, and defrauding buyers of thousands of dollars.

Police obtained a search warrant for the home of the alleged ringleader. Before they served that warrant, they asked the 24-year-old if he could give them some information about a different case in his neighborhood. When he voluntarily came to the station with his brother, they both were arrested.

Investigators say they found evidence at two homes that cars had been tampered with.

“An older vehicle with only 80,000 miles on it is much more valuable than one with 300,000 miles on it,” says Bremerton police Sgt. Kevin Crane.

Investigators have been working on the case for more than a year, tracking the suspects’ activities online.

“We have upward of 200 different transactions on Craigslist, we’ve identified 40 different victims and vehicles that have rolled back odometers.”

Many of the vehicles were Hondas. Police impounded seven more during the search Wednesday.

The suspected ringleader is now facing 105 felony charges, including forgery, theft and criminal impersonation. Neighbors say if he is found guilty, he should face serious jail time.

“I have bought used cars before,” said Jovan Torres. “I’d be pretty mad if somebody rolled back the odometer on me and you end up buying a lemon or something.”

Police said this should be a lesson to anyone who is looking at buying a used vehicle online.

“This would be difficult to detect. But if you did your homework, did a Carfax check, or contacted previous owners,” Crane said, a potential buyer could find out information.

“Know who’re dealing with, ask to see their identification. These subjects here were using false names whenever they were making transactions.”

The transactions took place around Kitsap County, all done in cash. It’s possible more victims may be out there. Police say two brothers have been charged already, but they expect a third will also be arrested.