Man Stole SUV In Walnut Hill, Sold It For Scrap In Less Than Day: ECSO Says

December 20, 2021

An Atmore man is charged with allegedly stealing a SUV in Florida before selling it for scrap less than a day later.

Johnny Wayne White, 39. was charged with felony grand theft of a motor vehicle.

According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, he stole a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder  valued at $3,000 from a residence in Walnut Hill. The victim located the vehicle at Atmore Recyclers in Atmore. A photo was taken of White as he sold the vehicle for $363.60, according to an arrest report.

The theft occurred in October, with White just recently arrested on an outstanding warrant. He remained in the Escambia County Jail Monday morning with bond set at $5,000.

Comments

14 Responses to “Man Stole SUV In Walnut Hill, Sold It For Scrap In Less Than Day: ECSO Says”

  1. brianh on December 21st, 2021 5:01 am

    Alabama is and always is the problem. The regs are very loose when it comes to scrap vehicles. I had a car of mine stolen and more then likely disappeared in the same manner.

  2. Hmmm on December 20th, 2021 6:49 pm

    Seems like a lot of work and messing around for $363. Why don’t these geniuses just get a real job?

  3. Bewildered on December 20th, 2021 2:17 pm

    Before he gets to bond out (no matter who pays his bond) he should have to reimburse the owner for the value of the vehicle! A law like that would keep more of these trashy thieves of the streets.

  4. Karma on December 20th, 2021 12:18 pm

    Trying to enlighten some curious minds, when taking a vehicle to the junkyard, you don’t have to have a title to a vehicle from 2004 and back in years, and you don’t have to have any type of paperwork saying it’s yours, sadly they don’t check for anything, their just happy to get more metal, and pay the customer a ridiculously cheap price for it, and they sell it for a very high price to the main metal manufacturer. Now they are changing the way catylac converters are being bought because of so many being stolen, now you have to bring the vehicle in and junk it when selling converters, unless you are replacing them on a vehicle, stupid mistake on his end for sure.

  5. Mike J. on December 20th, 2021 12:15 pm

    His 40th birthday party might be in jail. A life of crime and prison is no way to live.

  6. Debbie Hilliard on December 20th, 2021 12:00 pm

    I thought that you had to have a title to sell a car to a recycle business…

  7. Donnie on December 20th, 2021 11:10 am

    Strange to find your stolen vehicle at a scrap yard. Not one of the places I would look. But for a future reference if my truck gets stolen, I’ll check local junk yards. It’s possible the owner left the title in the Pathfinder. The Title is submitted to the DMV to change ownership but in this case it was not registered to White. If you don’t have proof of ownership or title when selling a car to a junk yard, then the VIN is submitted to the DMV. Either way a thief will get caught with someone else’s vehicle.

  8. sueb on December 20th, 2021 10:12 am

    Atmore Recyclers should be help accountable for taking the vehicle. They knew a $3K vehicle was worth more than $363.60 plus the theif was suspicious acting.

  9. Will on December 20th, 2021 10:00 am

    Yet another reason that some of these scrap yards should be held with some accountability for this crap. He stole the car so he had no legal paperwork showing it belonged to him, but a scrapyard buys it anyway? I bet they’ve bought more than their share of catalytic converters too. Take them all to jail for theft and possession of stolen property.

  10. David Huie Green on December 20th, 2021 9:29 am

    Imaginary thought:
    “Gonna have to steal a lot more to pay for my bond.”

  11. Concerned Citizen on December 20th, 2021 9:12 am

    Cut one of his hands off and let’s see if he tries to steal again. That is the only deterrent.

  12. TaxPayer on December 20th, 2021 8:44 am

    Perhaps a dumb question, but how does one sell a vehicle one doesn’t own? I assume he did the transaction without a title.

  13. tg on December 20th, 2021 8:06 am

    Junkyards can sense when something is not legit.

  14. JustWondering on December 20th, 2021 7:34 am

    He got the bad end too, $363.60! Scrap not paying good, doesn’t pay to be a thief!