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Show up for work at car lot – notice 81 cars and 3 executives missing. Hmm.

Published on March 13th, 2009

TOOELE, UT…Three auto executives with Tooele County ties were taken into custody in connection with the theft of 81 vehicles from a Scottsbluff, Neb., dealership they were running together.

Legacy Auto Sales owner Allen Patch, controller Rachel Fait, and general manager Rick Covello allegedly arranged to have the vehicles — identified as Fords and Toyotas — transported by truck to be sold at auctions in a number of western states including Utah. An investigation was launched Monday when employees at the dealership showed up for work and noticed an empty lot. Investigators reported that the trio’s desks had been cleaned out and their homes vacated.

The Scottsbluff County Attorney’s Office issued warrants to bring the threesome in for questioning, estimating the value of the missing cars at $2.5 million.

Patch, a former Tooele resident, is the previous owner of Quality Automotive in Tooele. Fait and Covello are part-time Tooele residents who worked for Patch at Quality and have remained business associates.

Patch turned himself in to Utah Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division authorities this morning, according to Charlie Roberts, public information officer with MVED. “He was arrested on the outstanding warrant and transported to the Tooele County Jail,” Roberts said.

Fait was taken into custody by the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday evening at a family home in Tooele and booked into the Tooele County Jail, according to Sheriff Frank Park. Covello turned himself in earlier Wednesday in Nebraska.

The investigation into the case is ongoing. Roberts said his department recovered 18 vehicles from Bargain Buggies in Erda at around 11:30 a.m. today, with others popping up at dealerships in the Salt Lake Valley.

Har! I’ll just bet those buggies were bargains.

5 users responded in " Show up for work at car lot – notice 81 cars and 3 executives missing. Hmm. "

# 1 the weakonomist said, on March 13th, 2009 at 6:13 am

This recession brings out the deepest dumbest idiot in us all. These guys just actually listened to that idiot.

# 2 Mr. Fusion said, on March 13th, 2009 at 1:43 pm

#1, weak,

I think you’ll find idiots like this will do anything anytime to make a quick buck.

Usually they would have waited until the lien holder on the vehicles complained.

# 3 deowll said, on March 13th, 2009 at 5:53 pm

In the article I read the law wasn’t sure what to make of this because the dealership owner was a party to this but the company he worked with wasn’t happy.

They were going to have to dig through the paper work and deteremine exactly what that actually says before they knew for sure what laws were broken if any.

If charges are being placed they must have sorted some of it out.

# 4 Cap'nKangaroo said, on March 13th, 2009 at 8:50 pm

#3 Maybe theft by misrepresentation. He may have owned the dealership, but the cars were probably securing a loan to the dealership. By removing all of them without consent of the lien holder, he may have committed a crime. This is purely an uninformed guess on my part.

It would be pretty hard to go unnoticed moving that many vehicles in a weekend. At a bare minimum it would have taken 7 tractor trailer car haulers and in a town the size of Scottsbluff you would think it would be noticed.

# 5 Random said, on March 13th, 2009 at 10:10 pm

Wow, they’d have had to be pretty damn dumb to think they could get away with that…

At least show up at work dumbfounded like the rest of the gang instead of cleaning out your desks. Sheesh

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