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Posted on 07/17/2008 7:54:02 PM PDT by Coleus

North Charleston Police busted an elaborate auto theft ring, and a Lowcountry pastor is one of their main suspects.

Hason "Tory" Fields, a pastor at Union Baptist Church downtown, has been arrested and charged with four counts of possession of a stolen vehicle. But Fields told Live 5 News Wednesday he's completely innocent.

"I have never stolen a car in my life," Fields said. Fields is out of jail after he says he posted roughly $7,500 in bond. After a month-long investigation involving North Charleston Police and five other agencies Fields is one of five people arrested so far in the bust of an elaborate vehicle theft ring. "That individual [Fields] was arrested for possession of two stolen motor vehicles," North Charleston Police detective Jason Forsythe said.

During a search of Field's home, police also found titles to two other vehicles they say he doesn't own. But Fields says those titles don't mean anything. "They went through some old paperwork, they found an old title that was folded up between some paperwork," Fields said. "And a car that I purchased that I hadn't even got yet. That's it. Two pieces of paper, two titles. That's it."

Police say they came to Fields after another suspect said he bought a stolen vehicle from him. But Fields says he's never sold a car. "Well, who am I selling them to? I mean, if I'm selling them to somebody wouldn't my name be on the titles? Wouldn't my name be on the paperwork? My name ain't on nothing." Fields says he's nothing more than another victim who accidentally bought stolen vehicles. He says police are trying to pin all this on him because they can't find the real suspect. "Because they need to find this other person," Fields said. "So, until they find him I guess they gonna come to me." Four other people have been arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle in connection with the theft ring. But police say several other people have to be involved because the operation was too extensive for Fields to have acted alone.

Police say the theft ring was fairly advanced and very elaborate. First they would go to salvage yards and steal the vehicle identification number, or the VIN, off vehicles that were totalled. Then they would request a duplicate title for the vehicle and then fraudulently alter the paperwork through the Department of Motor Vehicles so that the title said they owned the vehicle. Next, they would go to car dealerships across South Carolina, in Georgia and in North Carolina, and would ask dealers to let them sit in cars matching the make and model of those for which they had titles to hear the engine. An accomplice would distract the salesman while another switched the real key to the car with a fake. They would then return to the dealership that night and steal the new car with the actual key.

They would then sell the new, stolen vehicle for which they had a real, but fraudulent title and registration. After this process the only way police can tell the vehicle is stolen is by checking the VIN on the car to the VIN printed on the title or registration and finding they don't match. Police say there are at least 10 more of these stolen vehicles on the road. They are urging anybody who recently bought a car not from a dealership to check the VIN on the car against their title. If they don't match, police say they should call them immediately so they don't get in trouble. Anybody who is caught by police driving one of the stolen cars will be hit with a felony charge of possession of a stolen vehicle.

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