Washington State Auto Theft Case Leads Volusia Detectives To Deltona Suspect; Cops Find Drugs, Altered VINs, Man Operating Chop Shop

By Jessica Mcfadyen Last updated Sep 1, 2020 Share with new partner:

OPERATING A CHOP SHOP — Arthur Wilcher, 35, was arrested last week at his Deltona home after a roughly month-long investigation. Parked at his home were a stolen 2017 BMW 750, a 2018 Jaguar F-Pace and a 2017 Mercedes S-class, each with Washington tags and fake vehicle identification numbers on stickers covering the true VINs on the dashboards, doors and engine blocks.

DELTONA, FL – A Deltona man has been charged in a luxury car theft scheme that led state police in Washington to contact sheriff’s detectives here in Volusia County. According to authorities, Arthur N. Wilcher, 35, was arrested last week at his Bladon Avenue home after a roughly month-long investigation. Parked at his home were a stolen 2017 BMW 750 sedan, a 2018 Jaguar F-Pace SUV and a 2017 Mercedes S-class coupe, each with Washington tags and fake vehicle identification numbers on stickers covering the true VINs on the dashboards, doors and engine blocks.

The investigation started when Washington state police discovered one of their suspects in a series of rental car thefts had ties to Wilcher in Deltona. Washington police provided Volusia Sheriff’s Office detectives with two tag numbers believed to be attached to stolen vehicles. When Volusia detectives ran those tag numbers through the License Plate Reader system, it showed they were both regularly driving around Volusia County.

Detectives started conducting surveillance on Wilcher’s house and ultimately conducted a traffic stop early Thursday morning, after Wilcher backed out of his driveway in the BMW. A special agent with the National Insurance Crime Bureau responded to the scene and assisted in the investigation, which led to the discovery of all the fake VIN stickers covering the true VINs, which all revealed each vehicle was reported stolen. The BMW and Mercedes were reported stolen out of Georgia, and the Jaguar was reported stolen out of Miami Gardens.

Detectives also discovered $4,000 cash in a Louis Vuitton purse inside the Jaguar and about $46,000 cash in a black bag in the trunk of the BMW. Wilcher was charged with three counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle, three counts of possession of a vehicle with altered VIN, operating a chop shop and three counts of possession of schedule III substances recovered at the house. Wilcher posted $25,000 bail and was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on Friday.