5 days ago
Two arrested for possession of stolen luxury vehicles
Two people have been arrested for possessing stolen luxury cars that had their VINs changed.
While it's unclear if these two cases are connected, police are saying the thieves used a familiar trick to make it look like the cars were legal.
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Two weeks ago, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department arrested Aditya Chandiramani and accused him of possessing a stolen Mercedes-Benz G-63 with a VIN that had been cloned.
Chandiramani lived at an apartment complex in the university area, and the vehicle was parked in the deck. It quickly caught the attention of some residents.
'Usually, you just see lower-end cars, cheaper cars. This is a cheaper complex. I was kind of surprised, like seeing a higher-end type of car here,' said Luis Licona.
According to police, the Mercedes-Benz was stolen from Boca Raton, Florida.
Thursday night, police arrested 38-year-old Tahiim Douglas after they said he was cruising around a neighborhood next to the Arboretum in a $250,000 Lamborghini Urus.
They said the car had been stolen and the VIN had been cloned. Once again, neighbors in the area noticed.
'The car stood out because everybody drives more average cars here,' one resident expressed.
That resident went on to say that they believed the Lamborghini was from Montana or some other northwest state.
According to police, VIN cloning has become a big problem because it can hide the fact that a car has been stolen, leaving buyers on the hook.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said you can protect yourself by being wary of someone trying to sell you a vehicle for substantially less.
You should also look for evidence of tampering around the VIN, like scratches. Also, trust your intuition; if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
There are numerous websites where you can check to see if a VIN is legitimate. Two of the best are the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System.
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