The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1920-08-05
AUTO THIEVES
MULCT BUYERS
THOUSANDS OF STOLEN CARS
SOLD TO uNSUsPEcTiNG
BARGAIN HUNTERS.
IF FOUND. PURCHASER is LOSER
Before Buying From Strangers Make
Sure They Are Rlghtful owners
Of Car They Are Trying to Sell.

At the present time great many
automobile thieves are operating In
the state OF Michigan In 1919 the
City of Detroit alone lost 3,4S2 auto
mobiles, the value of which was 3d.
ICE, 327.00 The Detroit Police Depart
ment recovered 300 stolen automo-
biles the value of which was $2,697,-
$685. 90. From these figures 1t will be
seen that 773 cars Of a value of S467,-
$500 were never recovered. For the
first six months OF 1920 Detroit has lost
1888 automobiles OF which 1928 have
been recovered, leaviRg 3l5 cars still
uncovered This is only for the City
of Detroit. Complete statistics OF
stolen cars for the whole State OF
Michigan, cannot ba accurately COM
piled. The conclusion follows, how
ever, that vast amount OF valuable
property is being stolen each day
thru automobile th7fts
"Baruains" Are Apt to De 9oomerangs
The people themselves are largely
to blame for this state OF affairs. A
great many transporting persons pur'
chase an automobile cheaply from
whatever person offers II Tor sale.
No investigation whatever is made as
To whether the vendor is legally the
owner. The purchaser in great
many cases never requests TO sec The
registration card which is issued by
tho Secretary 81 State The only
question involved when & -. t.any
beople purchase car is the price II
il is a bargain tn deal is closed
1t is simple matter Tor thieves
TO change the various Manufacturer
numbers on a car in slch way as 20
deceive any one not making a very
thorough inspection. II actual cases
are cited showing how automobile
thieves operate, IT may be of some
help in showing the reader how easily
he may be deceived in purchasing a
stolen car.
One Farmer Sells Stolen Cars.
About the 18th of May 1920 a
Deputy Sheriff in a certain County
noticed that farmer, apparently OF
good reputation, was in possession OF
a new car every few days. The
farmer was posing as a Used Car
Dealer and stated that ne had pur.
chased the cars in Detroit ION the
market. Investigation disclosed that
the cars were stolen and following this
lead forty stolen cars were recovered
Automobile thieves in this particu-
lar instance operated as follows:
One of the organization stole the
car from the streets OF Detroit, ran
IL to secret garage and changed the
motor and Serial numbers In such a
way that the change could not be
easily detected. The car was then
transferred to this certain County
and easily disposed of because II was
offered for sale at very attractive
price, and no one in this County had
any reason, of course, to believe that
the possessor of it was not the legal
owner.
The authorities upon discovering that
the car was stolen, simply took pos
session OF 1t, and after il had been
identified by its original owner, was
returned to him. One farmer who
had purchased a stolen car when
asked whether he missed it when the
authorities took II away from him
stated. that he did not miss it half
as much as the old horse he sold to
purchase It," This particular farmer
had sold a good horse to purchase a
stolen car. AS a result of his foolish
investment he lost both.
Make Sure Seller Owns The Car.
II you desire to purchase a car go
to some authorized dealer and pay the
market price rather than take a
chance of purchasing from a Fly by
night dealer. Buy from some one
who you know will be in business to-
morrow and the day after. Do not
think you are getting "a good thing"
because some one is Offering you a
practically new car dirt cheap. Since
thousands of cars are being stolen it
stands TO reason that some one must
purchase these cars. Thieves steal
to sell; they do not steal automobiles
to use themselves, the chance of de-
lection is too great.
At any rate IL you cannot resist
the temptation to purchase a new
car from an unknown person, cheaply,
al least take all the reasonable pre-
cautions in protecting yourself from
purchasing stolen car. Inspect the
serial and engine numbers yourself.
Always secure the registration card
as issued by the Secretary of State.
Demand a Bill of Sale properly made
out; establish the identity of the
vendor, so that you could locate him
in case you desire. If you are I'm
doubt, call some police officer or
sheriff and have him look at It,
The Detroit Automobile Club has