The suspect even posed for a congratulatory photo with dealership employees seconds before police swooped in
August 23, 2024 at 18:14
- A 63-year old man allegedly tried to steal two Kia Tellurides via forgery.
- Authorities say he used the identification card of a deceased man.
- Now, he’s facing multiple charges and has a $50,000 bond.
Dealers aren’t immune from those who attempt to scam or steal from them. At Gossett Kia in Memphis, Tennessee, employees felt something was a bit off about one customer on August 10. They called the police and then played a role in getting the suspect arrested in the dealership showroom. The way the dealer employees played the situation is almost comical.
The suspect, 63-year-old William Hayes, allegedly used a fake Tennessee driver’s license bearing the name of a deceased person. He attempted to buy not one, but two Kia Tellurides with that identification. In total, the pair are valued at $158,885.
Read: Ferrari Exec Targeted By Deepfake Scammers Posing As CEO
Dealer employees and the authorities allowed Hayes to complete the entire buying process. In fact, they didn’t stop at signing the paperwork. The dealer actually had Hayes pose for a congratulatory photograph and video before police swooped in.
Video shows the moments with that arrest. Hayes simply says “Wait a minute, what’s going on here,” as police handcuff him. Hayes is now facing Forgery between $60,000 and $250,000 as well as Attempted theft of property between those same figures. He’s in jail with a $50,000 bond.
As mentioned above, scammers attempt to get one over on dealers from time to time with varying degrees of success. Of course, dealers try to get one over on customers enough that this might feel like karma to some.
Even in this case, the Kia dealer was charging an average of $79k for each Telluride. The most expensive trim of this SUV has an MSRP of under $54,000. Clearly, Gosset tacked on quite a bit in the way of additional fees for them to cost what they did.
@taylorashlanbender #justiceisserved ♬ original sound – Taylor Bender