Man faces charges in case of stolen vehicle parts

Police searched the house and garage last month.

BOARDMAN — A Sylvia Lane man is expected to return to court next month to answer charges accusing him of possessing stolen car parts.

Richard N. Latimer, 25, is charged with two counts of receiving stolen property and one count each of tampering with evidence and possession of criminal tools, all felonies; and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia. His preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 19 in Mahoning County Court.

Township Detective Glenn Patton said Latimer was a suspect in a July truck theft from Four Wheels, a South Avenue car dealership. Latimer had been the last person to test drive the truck, he said.

But when police went by the home in August, they saw no evidence of the stolen vehicle.

On Dec. 3, police were contacted by Weathersfield police about a truck stolen from Jarretts Auto Sales, state Route 46. Latimer had been the last one to test-drive that vehicle too, Patton said.

Police went to Latimer’s home and saw a silver truck in his driveway. The one reported stolen from Weathersfield was blue.

Latimer denied any knowledge of the stolen truck and gave officers permission to examine the truck in his driveway, Patton said. In checking the vehicle identification number, Patrolman Darrell Wagner saw that the hood looked as if it had been recently painted.

Patton then obtained a search warrant, and on Dec. 5, officers and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers searched the Sylvia Lane home and garage, finding parts from the trucks that had been reported stolen from both the South Avenue and the Weathersfield car dealerships, the detective said. Parts of another vehicle also were located.

The drug paraphernalia charge stems from a small amount of suspected marijuana and a pipe found in the house. The tampering charge relates to Latimer’s allegedly cutting up car parts after being aware of a police investigation, Patton said.

“He was cutting up the cars and either using the parts for his truck or selling them,” the detective said. “Those he couldn’t use or sell, he was taking for scrap. We had our own chop shop in Boardman.”

Latimer was arrested Wednesday and released on bond.