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LINDON — A Pleasant Grove man who owns a business that sells rare 4x4 vehicles is now facing criminal charges alleging that he was paid for three vehicles and then disappeared without delivering the cars.
Steven James Jackson, 46, was charged Tuesday in 4th District Court with three counts of communications fraud and three counts of theft by deception, second-degree felonies.
Jackson is the owner of Land Cruisers Direct in Lindon. The company "specializes in finding rare and unique 4x4s that were not originally available in the USA market. We import them and sell them directly to customers," according to Facebook.
From about April of 2021 through January, Jackson was paid for three vehicles by the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum in Salt Lake City, according to charging documents. Each vehicle is worth about $50,000.
As of Wednesday, Jackson has failed to deliver these vehicles and he stopped communicating with investigators as of Oct. 4, the charges state.
"Numerous attempts by the complainant and the Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division to contact Mr. Jackson in an attempt to seek a resolution/ ship date have been unsuccessful," prosecutors noted in charging documents. "Mr. Jackson has become unresponsive to the officer's communications … and his current residence is unknown."
The latest post on the Land Cruisers Direct Facebook page is from September 2021. A reply to the post was made on Saturday in which a man tells Jackson he is about to be served with a summons and he is being notified via social media as an alternative delivery service.
In another post dated Sept. 14, 2021, the Land Cruisers page asks customers to be patient due to a series of setbacks.
"A crazy summer of shipping problems, family issues and now recovering from a bout with the COVID. We're slowly catching up on shipments, parts queries and other requests so please be patient. We apologize for the scheduled calls missed in the last few weeks," the post states.
