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PD: Crew steals blank car titles from Mesa motor vehicle business

PD: Crew steals blank car titles from Mesa motor vehicle business
Posted at 11:57 AM, Sep 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-18 14:57:35-04

A three-man crew was reportedly paid $10,000 to steal blank vehicle titles from a Mesa motor vehicle business.

Mesa Police report that on August 25, Michael Earl Stewart, 30, was detained outside a motor vehicle business near Stapley Drive and Southern Avenue.

Police say Stewart served as a lookout while two others used a baseball bat to break the window and enter the business. Inside they allegedly stole blank vehicle titles.

Stewart reportedly told police that he and one other burglar met with a man who gave them $10,000 to take titles, even loaning them a truck to commit the crime.

Police located and searched the vehicle used in the burglary and reportedly found evidence of five other thefts. Police say they also found evidence, at the home of the man who paid the $10,000, of burglaries from other title companies.

Stewart was released from prison in 2015 after serving four years for burglary and sex offenses. He has now been charged with burglary.