Mechanics accused in auto parts theft
Investigators arrest three mechanics at a Cadillac dealership after getting a tip from a party in Illinois.
By STEVE THOMPSON
Published March 9, 2005
PORT RICHEY - Brand new Cadillac coolant pumps were selling for $15.99. A brake light went for $99.
Ed Komenda, parts manager for a Cadillac dealership in Illinois, was surfing eBay's Internet auction site to check out his competition's prices. His dealership sells parts obtained legitimately online.
At these prices, he knew something was wrong. Some of the parts were selling on eBay for less than what a dealership would pay. Komenda submitted the winning bid on a blower motor and, in the course of the transaction, got the address of the seller. Then he plugged the ZIP code into the General Motors Web site's dealership locator.
Soon he was talking to Mory Ahmed, general manager for Coastal Cadillac in Port Richey. After Ahmed called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office on Monday, detectives arrested three of the dealership's mechanics on accusations of stealing Cadillac parts to sell on the Internet.
Exactly where the parts came from still is being investigated. Sheriff's officials say at least some of the parts were new. Officials say that customers were told that their parts were under warranty and needed replacing. But rather than replace the parts, which actually worked fine, mechanics left the old parts in and sold the GM-supplied replacement parts online, officials say.
"It's unclear if it extended beyond the warranty parts that were replaced," sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said Tuesday. "But it is something (detectives) are looking into."
Arrest reports also say some parts were taken from the trash, cleaned and sold. The men arrested were: Ronald Gary Geroux, 46, of 16120 Perimeter Drive in Brooksville; Dean Andrew Molnar, 31, of 10326 Leaning Oak Drive in Port Richey and David Lawrence Wojcieski, 47, of 8552 Windmill Drive in New Port Richey.
Geroux, Molnar and Wojcieski each face charges of scheming to defraud. They were released from the county jail early Tuesday, after they each posted $5,000 bail.
A spokesman for AutoNation, which owns Coastal Cadillac, said all three men were fired and the dealership is working closely with investigators. "That dealership has an outstanding reputation and customers are very, very satisfied," Marc Cannon said. "We pride our ourselves on customer service and we're going to make sure those customers are taken care of."
None of the men could be reached Tuesday, but a woman who identified herself as Wojcieski's wife said none of the parts he sold came out of customers' cars. They were only a few parts the dealership could not use, she said.
"We weren't trying to be mean," the woman told the Times. "We were just trying to make an extra dollar."
It was Geroux's eBay items that Komenda noticed online. The site shows more than 200 transactions associated with his signon: jr_geroux. Parts sold include a used and slightly defective automatic window switch for $202.52 and a center console cupholder for $59.92.
Komenda said he e-mailed Geroux, who told him that he had bought out a local warehouse. Komenda knew that was improbable.
"This is the fourth guy that I've caught," Komenda said. "I'm not actively looking for cheaters and stealers. I'm looking for parts."