If you’re going to buy a car with a fake check, it’s probably smart to put license plates on once you get the car.
Rye police said a Bridgeport man found that out the hard way last week after the second time the car was stopped ended with him arrested on felony theft charges.
Jose Gonzalez was a passenger in a BMW sedan on Friday, March 20, when Rye police pulled the car over on Milton Road. The female driver, who had a valid Connecticut driver’s license, said the car had just been bought by her friend, Gonzalez.
Police had already pulled Gonzalez over earlier when he was test-driving the car with the owner and they warned them about not driving without plates. During the second stop he told officers he bought the BMW but did not have a bill of sale or license plates for it.
Police said an investigation revealed that Gonzalez had used a fraudulent check to buy the car for $75,000 and showed the owner a fake Massachusetts driver’s license in the name of ‘Robert Hines’.
The two had arranged to meet in Rye after the owner posted the car for sale on Facebook Marketplace, police said in a news release. When the owner provided the necessary paperwork that the BMW was his, police returned the car to him.
Gonzalez, 24, was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, both felonies punishable by up to four years in prison, and misdemeanor counts of third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and second-degree criminal impersonation.
He was released without bail and is due back in Rye City Court on March 31.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Missing license plates lead to arrest in fraudulent Rye car purchase
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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