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Published on Thursday, October 3, 2002
in the Bonita Daily News
Some quick checks on the Internet by suspicious car buyers have landed a Bonita Shores resident in jail.
Florida Highway Patrol investigators arrested Donald R. Metz, 68, of 79 Ninth St., north Collier County, on Tuesday. He is charged with six counts of odometer fraud, 11 counts of title fraud and selling vehicles without a license. On Wednesday evening, he remained in the Collier County jail in lieu of $40,000 bail. If convicted, Metz could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each count.
So far, investigators have located six victims in Lee and Collier counties who purchased vehicles with the odometers rolled back. Some had more than 100,000 miles removed from the gauge.
FHP Lt. Paul Henry is with the Bureau of Investigations and handled the case. He said Department of Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety records revealed Metz sold 24 vehicles in the past three years that had been tampered with. Metz bought an additional 24 vehicles but records did not show they had been sold.
In July, Carole Sullivan of Naples purchased a 1994 Toyota pickup from Metz for $3,200. According to Metz's booking sheet, he paid the Gelco Corp. of Minnesota $1,000 for the vehicle with 162,259 miles. Sullivan purchased the vehicle after seeing an advertisement in the classifieds section of the Naples Daily News. The gauge showed about 102,000 miles. Other cases followed the same pattern.
"I purchased it when my husband was out of town and I just thought I'm on the Internet all the time," Sullivan said. When she checked the Vehicle Identification Number through a Web site, it provided the vehicle history and the original amount of miles. She then called Metz and he assured her it was a mistake.
About three weeks later, she said, she received a call from investigators.
"You never would have thought," she said. "I'm very glad he's been arrested."
She and the other victims will have to file a civil suit against Metz to recover their money. Sullivan said so far she plans to sue him and her truck still works.
Other victims found out about the altered gauges when they attempted to resell the vehicles or, in one case, they found maintenance receipts in the car that had a different mileage provided.
Henry said the statute of limitations on such crimes only permits prosecutions of crimes committed in the past three years, so that is as far as he checked.
"Mr. Metz has been buying or selling vehicles for a few years," Henry said. "The best thing consumers can do is a car facts check, but it's no longer required for cars 10 years or older."
Anyone with information about this type of crime may contact the Florida Highway Patrol at
278-7100.