VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida man who was driving around in stolen luxury cars with altered vehicle identification numbers and bags of cash inside has been arrested after a month-long investigation, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the investigation began after state police in Washington contacted them because a suspect in a series of rental car thefts there had close ties to Arthur N. Wilcher, 35, in Deltona.
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Police provided deputies with two license plate numbers believed to be attached to stolen vehicles and when deputies checked the license plate reader system, they said they realized the stolen vehicles had been driving around Volusia County.
Deputies said they began to conduct surveillance on Wilcher’s home, where he had a 2017 BMW 750 sedan, a 2018 Jaguar F-Pace SUV and a 2017 Mercedes S-class coupe.
Wilcher was arrested Thursday as he backed the BMW out of his driveway, records show.
After the arrest, the National Insurance Crime Bureau was brought in to assist with the investigation and those agents discovered that all three vehicles had fake VIN stickers covering the actual VIN stickers, according to a news release.
Deputies said the BMW and Mercedes were reported stolen out of Georgia and the Jaguar was reported stolen out of Miami Gardens.
A Louis Vuitton purse containing $4,000 in cash was found in the Jaguar while a black bag with $46,000 in cash was found in the trunk of the BMW, according to authorities.
Wilcher was arrested on 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.
He has since bonded out of the Volusia County Jail.