Authorities say the man rented the cars and subsequently sold them with VIN washed titles across the USA
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A 25-year-old man from Murrieta, California is in jail after allegedly stealing over $1 million worth of luxury vehicles. Authorities say that the man rented at least six vehicles from the same couple and then tried to sell them. Now he’s facing serious charges and a lengthy stay in jail.
The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said on Friday that Kendall Clark rented the vehicles back in September. Prosecutors claim that Clark then title-washed the VIN numbers of the vehicles in question and resold them. These weren’t everyday rental cars either.
The DA says Clark stole a Lamborghini Urus, a Lamborghini Huracan, a Porsche Cayenne, a Chevrolet Corvette, a Jeep Wrangler, and a BMW i8. Combined, the vehicles are said to be worth in excess of seven figures. How Clark expected to get away with the crime is unknown.
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Evidently the real owners, a couple in Lake Matthews, reported the cars stolen after Clark didn’t return them at the end of his rental agreement. That’s when they found out that the cars were no longer in their names. The Riverside Auto-Theft Interdiction Detail went to work on the case and located all of the cars across the country.
Then, on October 18th, it found Clark in San Diego and arrested him. It’s since returned all of the vehicles to the owners. Clark pled ‘not guilty’ on October 20th to charges including embezzlement and auto theft. He has a felony settlement conference on October 30th scheduled.
For now, he’s in the Southwest Detention Center on $250,000 bail. Police believe he might be involved in other crimes that it’s investigating and ask that anyone with information contact Detective Matt Guzzino at 951-290-1923. This is far from the first time that we’ve heard of a similar title-washing scheme.
In the last few months, Carvana has popped into the news for selling stolen vehicles that were similarly forged titles. Perhaps if Clark had tried this with everyday cars it would’ve been easier to get away with it.
