Sisters Linda Johnson and Delores Allen.
Where oh where, has our little car gone?
Sisters claim no help from RCPD
By Ernestine Chasing Hawk Native Sun News Today Editor
nativesunnews.today RAPID CITY –– When sisters Linda Johnson and Delores Allen set out to lend a family member a helping hand, they never imagined what would happen next. Last year the sisters wanted to help Johnson’s son Sam get on his feet after he was released from jail. So on September 1, 2015, they bought him a red 2004 Pontiac GTO for $9,500 from a man named Scott Harrison. However, shortly after purchasing the vehicle, the transmission on the vehicle started slipping, Johnson said. So Sam’s girlfriend recommended Affordable Auto Care on Campbell Street, she said. So Sam took the Pontiac to Affordable Auto Care in December of 2015. “My son paid them $1,800 up front for a transmission. They said they were waiting for parts to come in. We waited until I would say June. It was taking too long so we decided to go looking for it,” Johnson said. “Then I called my ex-daughter-in-law and she said the address was on Campbell Street.” After the sisters combed up and down Campbell Street, they said the business was nowhere to be found. So they called the Rapid City Police Department. The police tried to locate the business and told them the business had closed and that the owner Derek Vaughn had opened up another shop on Haines Avenue. In trying to file a stolen car report to the RCPD, Johnson said she was told it was not a police matter and that it was a civil matter and that she needed to talk to Vaughn in person. “I went over there and I could not find this Derek person and there was no car there. So I went searching at his home residence in Country Village north of Rapid and it wasn’t there either,” Johnson said. The sisters heard rumors that the IRS was going to confiscate the vehicle because Affordable Auto Care owed back taxes. Johnson said her sons ex-girlfriend told them about a “Repo Man” named Reiles Ferris aka Les Sirriff who could maybe help them recover the missing vehicle. “We asked him to go get the car so he towed it out of where Derek was hiding it. I never did find out where that was. And he towed it to his trailer that was also out on Country Road. He said he just needed $100 to fix it and he claims he repaired it. Then he moved,” Johnson said. “The last time I laid eyes on it was on August 16, that was when we last seen the car.” Johnson said family members tried to locate where the “Repo Man” had disappeared to and what he did with the car, but next – they could not find him nor the GTO. They were told Ferris worked at Bubba’s Auto but when they asked, Bubba’s Auto claimed he had never worked there. So for the second time Johnson said they notified the Rapid City Police Department about the missing 2004 Pontiac GTO and attempted to file a stolen car report. “The police said I had to make personal contact again. So the state's attorney tried to look up Derek Vaughn and Affordable Auto Care. She wasn’t able to find any form of any bankruptcy or confiscation of cars from the IRS,” Johnson said. So the sisters said they took it upon themselves to contact the IRS and the IRS told them they had not confiscated property from anyone in 25 years. “I gave them the VIN number and they said there was no action taken by them on that vehicle.”
Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: Where oh where, has our little car gone? (Contact Ernestine Chasing Hawk at editor@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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