Southwest Edition Texas Oklahoma Louisiana New Mexico
30
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VOL. 30 ISSUE 5 MAY 2012
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Major ‘Chop Shop’ Busted in Jackson, MS, Owner Arrested, $500K in Nissan Parts Found
Dallas-Ft Worth Storms Take out 50,000 Autos and Damage 30,000 Homes
Police have uncovered a huge cache of parts stolen from a nearby Nissan plant, and from other sources, at a Jackson auto body business. Following tips from residents, officers raided Pre-
Insurers are finding out the recent severe weather in Texas took a heavy toll on vehicles. The tornadoes that ripped through Arlington, Lancaster and other parts of North Texas on April 3 left behind a load of business for roofers, body shops and tree services, according to Chad Hemenway, writing in Property Casualty360.com.
Some of the $500,000 in Nissan Parts found at the Jackson, MS, body shop labeled Nissan
cious Automotive Auto Body Restoration, on Gault Street, just off Highway 80 in Jackson, on April 18. Authorities said a majority of the merchandise came from the Nissan Plant in Canton. Crates full of Nissan parts and components were stored inside the building.
They include catalytic converters, airbags, wire harnesses, batteries and headlight assemblies. Several stolen vehicles were also recovered. J.P.D. detectives arrested the building owner, 48-year old Eric Brown. He is charged with operating a chop shop, auto theft, receiving and possession of stolen property and marijuana possession. “Detectives including officers arrived on scene and noticed approximately half a million dollars worth of merchandise that was from the Nissan production center,” said J.P.D. Officer Colendula Green. “We did surveillance on the property, came back out here today, did a chop shop inspection and from that inspection it revealed that there was items out here taken from different areas. Most items we discovered came from the Nissan plant,” said Sgt. L.C. Russell with the Auto Theft Division. “Nissan has been made aware that See Stolen Nissan Parts, Page 20
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Collision technician Scot Barnfield replaces a hail-damaged roof on a Nissan at the Caliber Collision Center in Keller on April 19. Photo Credit: Star-Telegram/Max Faulkner
Caliber Collision Centers, which operates 103 centers, including 16 in North Texas, has scheduled repairs on hundreds of cars damaged in the storm, said Todd Dillender, vice president of operations for North Texas. Repair centers in Lewisville, Corinth, Duncanville and Arlington have seen the most traffic, and Caliber is offering customers the option of having work done faster at less-busy Caliber centers in the area, Dillender said. “We’re able to leverage our scale
and size,” he said. Damage estimates from the storms continue to grow. Mark Hanna, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, said Friday that estimated insured losses from the storms have increased to $550 million from earlier estimates of $500 million. At least 50,000 autos and nearly 30,000 homes were damaged, up from earlier estimates of 45,000 autos and 25,000 homes, Hanna said. “I would not doubt that it is going to hit $600 million,” Hanna said. The storms have drawn contractors from outside the region, and Hanna stressed that consumers should deal only with firms whose reputations they can verify.
“The majority [of outside contractors] may be the nicest people in the world,” Hanna said. “But there are others who are going to take advantage of people, who are going to get up on a roof that doesn’t need work, who create damage just to get the job.” See 50,000 Autos, Page 4
Paint Focused Articles in this issue... Standox® Partnership In Excellence (PIE) Member Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 14 PCL Automotive Products Help Rich Evans Excel . . . . . .p. 13 Airbrush Artist Shannon MacDonald Uses PPG Envirobase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 32 Matrix Has World’s First Premium Low VOC Solvent Basecoat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 38 Collision Repair Estimates—Excellence Now Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 44
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