A driver who attempted to register a stolen vehicle with the Habersham County tag office is now behind bars. Authorities arrested the man Wednesday morning after the state driver and vehicle database flagged the SUV.
“We had an individual to bring in some paperwork that appeared to be legitimate,” says Habersham County Tax Commissioner June Black-Warren. “When we started processing the paperwork, which included the title, a bill of sale, his driver’s license, and insurance, we put it into the DRIVES system, and it alerted us that it was a stolen vehicle.”
Someone from the tag office contacted the sheriff’s office, which found that its computer system, too, listed the vehicle as stolen. Sheriff’s office personnel responded to the county administration building in Clarkesville to investigate.
During their investigation, officials determined someone stole the vehicle from a property on Cannon Bridge Road outside Demorest between 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27.
“It had broken down and was stolen from the property where it had been left,” explains Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore.
Fraudulent paperwork
The paperwork the suspect presented to the tax officials was apparently left inside the vehicle, says Black-Warren. Habersham is one of a number of Georgia counties that require a bill of sale to process tag requests. Tax officials use them to verify signatures.
“The first thing we do is look at the signatures of the seller on the back of the title as well as the bill of sale to make sure they match, and if they do, more than likely it’s a good sale,” says Black-Warren.
Except, in this case, it wasn’t.
“These documents were in order; the seller’s signatures did match,” Black-Warren says. “The only problem with them, we found out, was the seller did not put the buyer’s name on either one of the documents. They were left open, so when the person stole the vehicle, they had the documents right there, and they just filled their name in.”
The sheriff’s office impounded the vehicle and arrested the suspect. Authorities have not released his name or list of charges.
Now Habersham will update this article when new information is released.
