Friday, 21 September 2007 01:46
Murphy's Man Gets a Big Surprise From Birthday Present
You can run, but you can’t hide from the CHP… On
March 2, 2007, Mike Schwartz of Murphy’s thought he had received the perfect
birthday gift from his wife – a 1931 Model A Ford, off an E-Bay auction listing by the St. Louis Car
Museum in St. Louis Missouri.
The Schwartz’s purchased their dream car for just under $22,000. The car
arrived with a Certificate of Title with a Vehicle Identification Number which
matched the number on the engine.
When Mr. Schwartz attempted to register the car,
he was referred to the California Highway Patrol in San Andreas where it was
discovered that the ID number on the car was fraudulent. Further investigation
revealed that the Model A had been stolen from its owner, 77 year-old Carl
Bickel, in Charlotte, North Carolina – 24 years ago. Mr. Bickel
had been in the process of restoring the vehicle in a warehouse when the car
was stolen. He is now on his way to California
to pick-up the antique car and Mike Schwartz is contacting the St. Louis Car Museum
and EBay for restitution.
