Two members of the Door County Sheriff’s Department are being praised for the work that led to the recovery of a 2003 Hummer stolen as part of an internet scam. The Sheriff’s Department was informed by the vehicle’s owner that he had posted the Hummer for sale on the internet & was contacted by an Ohio man who offered to purchase it with a cashier’s check. The local man took precautions to protect himself like copying down information from the purchaser’s drivers license & license plate & checking the routing numbers on the cashier’s check. But, after accepting the check & turning over the vehicle, he learned that the check was fraudulent. Deputy Paul Keddell conducted the initial investigation & entered the Hummer into the NCIC, the National Crime Information Center. Investigator Mark Winkel was assigned to follow up on the case. He contacted the Ohio Transportation Department & determined that the suspect was using an alias & had a long criminal history in several states. He also learned that a vehicle was stolen in a similar manner in Ohio. Winkel obtained a photo of the suspect & submitted evidence to the Wisconsin Crime Lab to process. On August 25th, the Hummer was recovered in a suburb of Detroit. Two men had tried to sell it to obtain another vehicle, but it doesn’t appear that they had anything to do with the Door County theft. We’re told that Investigator Winkel is continuing his investigation & may soon have enough information to bring about criminal charges. Investigative Sergeant Connie Schuster says internet fraud cases are difficult to investigate & rarely result in recovery or arrest, but thanks to the hard work of Keddell & Winkel, the Door County man has his vehicle back.
