Staff Report

WARSAW — Three people from Kosciusko County are facing criminal charges involving auto theft.

Lisa M. Jayne, 31, 305 E. Main St., Silver Lake; and Jason Wayne Rhodes, 40, 10044 W. 700S, Mentone, are each charged with auto theft and odometer fraud, both level 6 felonies.

Jeffery Allen Fuller, 38, 706 Ross Ave. Apartment A., Warsaw, is charged with two counts of auto theft, both level 6 felonies.

On April 24, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a stolen vehicle in Claypool. A woman told the officer her black GMC Envoy was taken from her driveway. She had not given anyone permission to use the vehicle. The woman said she recently purchased the Envoy from a man who provided a bill of sale and only one set of keys. The vehicle’s title was not given to her.

On July 13, a Warsaw Police officer spoke with a woman who said she had purchased a GMC Envoy and registered the vehicle with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The Envoy had the same vehicle identification number as the one reported stolen. According to court documents, the woman who purchased the Envoy said she had not received the title back from the BMV and made an inquiry into the delay. At that time, the BMV notified the woman that the vehicle had been listed as stolen, resulting in a hold on the title.

The Warsaw officer was able to gain information about the vehicle being sold multiple times without being registered through the BMV. After the GMC was stolen on April 24, it was sold by Jayne and Rhodes.

Jayne said she bought the Envoy from the man who sold the vehicle on April 24. Jayne said she bought the vehicle for $1,000 and titled the vehicle the same day she made the purchase. After the initial interview, Jayne told officers that it was actually Rhodes who purchased the vehicle. At that time, she admitted that she and Rhodes knew the vehicle was stolen when they purchased it.

Rhodes also allegedly replaced the instrument cluster in the vehicle, reducing the reported mileage indicated on the Envoy.

Jayne said she and Rhodes were involved in selling the vehicle to an individual in Rochester for $1,000. Text communications regarding the purchase and selling of the Envoy were provided to officers.

Rhodes admitted to purchasing the Envoy with Jayne to make some money on the resale. Rhodes initially denied knowing the vehicle was stolen; however, when he was asked if there were text messages showing he had knowledge about the theft, Rhodes agreed to those messages possibly existing.

Rhodes told officers the vehicle had over 200,000 miles on it before he swapped out the instrument cluster. At the time of the incident, the GMC Envoy showed approximately 113,000 miles on its new instrument cluster.

Rhodes told officers that two men delivered the vehicle to him, one of which was identified as Fuller. Rhodes paid the $1,000 to Fuller.

Officers spoke with the man who sold the vehicle to the woman on April 24. He said he wrote a bill of sale for the purchase because he could not immediately find the title. The man told officers that Fuller works on his vehicles and had set up the sale of the Envoy. When he found the vehicle’s title, he asked Fuller to give it to the people who purchased the vehicle.

The man who Rhodes said was with Fuller during the vehicle’s delivery said that he dropped Fuller off to pick up a vehicle that Jayne was purchasing. He said he dropped Fuller off at a residence to pick up the vehicle and that Fuller took the vehicle back to his residence.

Fuller has been arrested and released on bond. Jayne and Rhodes were both arrested on Nov. 27, each with a $5,250 surety and cash bond.