Inspector Carver and Investigator Rockett with Barbara Rambo

The NICB Award of Excellence is intended to recognize any law enforcement person(s), or department who has distinguished themselves in area of vehicle theft investigations, making a significant impact involving dismantlement and prosecution of a vehicle theft ring or chop shop. This year’s winners have done just that.

In January 2012 Inspector Aaron Carver of the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles License & Theft Bureau received information from a citizen who believed they had spotted their stolen utility trailer on Craigslist. Inspector Carver took action and began searching through DMV records for the seller’s information. Carver located a possible match and upon viewing the satellite image of this person’s residence observed several utility trailers parked in front of the residence.

Inspector Carver contacted NICB and ran the suspect through ISO ClaimSearch, confirming the suspect’s address and also obtaining a telephone number for the suspect. Inspector Carver discovered the suspect had previously fi led insurance claims in Los Angeles, CA and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Information that would later prove critical to this investigation!

Inspector Carver discovered there were several reports of stolen utility trailers from Hickory North Carolina so he contacted Detective David Rockett of the Hickory Police Department. Although that initial lead failed to produce a recovery, it lead to the recovery of a different stolen trailer, which began a domino effect that would eventually result in the recovery of 42 vehicles valued at an estimated $443,714.00, and the disruption of a large scale organized theft ring which spanned from the west to east coast of the United States. Amazingly, the target of this investigation was not a career criminal (prior to this investigation) but rather a Hollywood actor who had played in a mini-series on cable.

Working together, Carver and Rockett utilized all the tools at their disposal, including NICB. Their inter-agency cooperation is what contributed to the success of this investigation. This case could have easily been concluded at the recovery of the first stolen trailer; however, these officers took the initiative to go the extra mile and were relentless in their pursuit of justice. Because many of the vehicles recovered had altered/obliterated VIN’s Inspectors from NCDMV utilized NICB to obtain secondary VIN information and confirm the true identity of these vehicles/vessels, thus leading to the recoveries.

Inspector Carver and Investigator Rockett display a firm understanding and embrace for the concept of teamwork which is critical to the success of any large scale investigation.