DeLand dealership’s general manager arrested for issuing unregistered temporary tags
The general manager of a Deland auto dealership was arrested on a warrant Oct. 7 after failing to appear in court in September, according to court documents.
Michael Hutchinson, 47, of Orange City, was arrested on misuse of temporary tags, 20 misdemeanor counts. He was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail on $10,500 bail.
Hutchinson, 2180 S. Woodland Blvd., according to the dealership’s website.
Hutchinson could not immediately be reached and was not at the dealership on Wednesday, Oct. 8. An employee said he was scheduled to report to work later in the morning.
Florida Troopers began investigating the dealership’s temporary tags after being found on an unregistered vehicle during a traffic stop on March 3.
The driver of the Ford Escape was stopped by a soldier and said he had purchased the vehicle from Deland Trusted Automobiles and Trucks with an unregistered temporary tag, the report said.
The driver of the Ford Escape was cited for failure to register a vehicle.
Troopers said the temporary tag was not registered and the Department of Motor Vehicles did not have any information on file for the tag attached to the Ford Escape.
According to court documents, troopers pulled over the Ford getaway and Deland requested inspections of reliable cars and trucks.
20 unregistered stickers on vehicles driving on highways
On March 13, a motor vehicle inspector and traffic stop trooper visited the dealership to conduct an inspection.
Troopers requested vehicle identification numbers for several vehicles, including the Ford Escape stopped by the Trooper on March 3. Investigators discovered that the dealership issued four different unregistered temporary tags to the driver of the Ford getaway.
Investigators said they found 20 temporary tag numbers in Deland that were never registered to a person or vehicle, but were assigned to trusted cars and trucks attached to cars at the dealership.
“(The vehicles) were driven on public roads throughout the state of Florida.”
In the report, state investigators learned that Hutchinson was the only person who administered and issued temporary tags for the dealership.
Hutchinson, who told investigators he had worked with Deland Dependable Automobiles and Trucks for 17 years, said he was unaware he was required to register the pre-printed temporary tags, according to court documents.
During the temporary tag inspection, Hutchinson was asked if there were any additional tags. Even when asked about the temporary tag found in the Ford getaway, investigators said there was none.
This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: Deland dealership investigated for using unregistered temporary tags
