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Officers say they found three stolen trucks and parts of other stolen vehicles at a Tarpon Springs man's home.
By RICHARD DANIELSON, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 17, 2002
TARPON SPRINGS -- A two-week investigation into a Tarpon Springs "chop shop" has led to felony charges against two North Pinellas men, the discovery of several partially disassembled trucks and a trail that leads to North Carolina.
Ronald A. Wells, 37, of Tarpon Springs, has been charged with operating a chop shop, a place where stolen vehicles are altered or disassembled before being resold or shipped elsewhere.
Wells also was charged with conspiracy, dealing in stolen property, unlawfully altering vehicle identification numbers, grand theft and three counts of grand theft auto, according to court records. He was being held at the Pinellas County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $255,000 bail.
Pinellas sheriff's officials said Wells ran the chop shop on his property at 1110 E Court St. There they found three stolen trucks from Pasco County, Hillsborough County and Ohio, as well as pieces of a fourth truck from which vehicle identification numbers had been ground off, according to arrest reports.
"They're removing enough identification to keep the stuff from being identified," sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita said.
Detectives also charged 21-year-old Orvall L. Landreth, of 1002 Bee Pond Road, Palm Harbor, with conspiracy and two counts of grand theft, according to court records. His bail was set at $35,000, and he was being held at the jail Tuesday.
Sheriff's detectives made the arrests late last week after an investigation that began in June with the reported theft of a $30,000 Massey-Ferguson tractor from Oldsmar, Tita said.
A confidential informant told sheriff's officials that the tractor had been taken to Bee Pond Road in Palm Harbor, and investigators eventually tracked it to one of Wells' relatives in Gilchrist County, Tita said.
The two also are suspected in the theft of a $40,000 tractor with a backhoe and front end loader stolen from North Carolina, Tita said. That piece of equipment was traced to a construction site in Tarpon Springs, he said.
Investigators are trying to determine whether there were more stolen vehicles or vehicle parts to be recovered. Anyone who might have done business with Wells or Landreth or has other information is asked to call Pinellas County sheriff's Detectives Troy Compton or Kenneth Sokolowski at (727) 582-6200.