In late December, I told you about an issue I keep seeing around East Texas of junk cars with dealer tags on them. I questioned how a dealership would want to sell a car in that condition. Turns out, there is a huge problem that has it's hub in Texas for selling fake dealer tags. Its a practice being used so an individual, or group of people, don't have to register their vehicle. That vehicle is then used for nefarious reasons. This latest arrest in Dallas proves how big and lucrative the problem is.

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Tuesday, May 3, the Dallas Police Department announced they had arrested 43 year-old Wayland Wayne Wright and charged him with Tampering with a Governmental Record with Intent to Defraud. A citizen provided a tip to police which lead to an undercover officer being able to buy a fake dealer tag. A search warrant was executed at a building in the 3600 Block of Sunnyvale Street in Dallas where numerous other fake dealer tags were discovered along with $3,000 in cash.

Why is this a big deal?

Let me throw out this hypothetical scenario - your car is stolen. The thief can then go to go a person that has been able to register themselves as a legitimate car dealer with the Department of Motor Vehicles. From there, that person can print a dealer tag for use on the stolen vehicle. That stolen vehicle can then be driven without a registration sticker and used to commit crimes.

In the case of the instances I've seen on the roads in East Texas, I can only assume someone has salvaged a car and bought one of these fake dealer tags to put on the vehicle to avoid having to register it. In some cases, they won't get insurance on the vehicle either.

Its a problem that law enforcement and our state government is trying to shut down. Its hard, though, because this is an issue that has exploded with very little oversight until now. Right now, if you suspect something like this is going on, contact your local authorities and let them pursue the issue further.

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