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(KSL News) -- Investigators have busted a theft ring that targeted high-end SUVs.
Court papers outline the nine-person, six-count indictment. It states the suspects would get vehicle information numbers, or VINs, from expensive SUVs like Escalades and Hummers. They would give those VINs to people who worked at car dealerships in various states.
Tim Fuhrman, FBI special agent in charge: "They would provide the VIN number to those individuals, and those individuals would access a database to which they had access by virtue of their employment and provide the key codes to the individuals who were interested in stealing the cars."
Once they had the key codes, the thieves could order new keys and simply unlock the vehicles, drive them away and sell them.
Three Salt Lake men face charges: Nicholas Peck, Stephen Kirk and Caesar "Spanky" Martinez.
