Dayton, OH Cops or It seemed like a good idea at the time

Let’s say you’re a cop …

A 43-year old cop, in the city of Dayton, Ohio.  (Not that I have anyone in mind or anything.)  So, anyhow … you decide that your paycheck just isn’t enough.  You need a little extra. And you get this idea: “Hey,” you think to yourself.  “We get all these cars we tow … and if they’re old cars … say, I dunno … maybe ten year old cars … well, hell, it costs more to claim the car than it’s worth … so a lot of people don’t even bother retrieving them and then they just sit there … ”

So you decide a time (or three) to use the police computer system to do a little sleight of hand and sort of forge a bill of sale and issue a new title in your name … not too often, maybe just one here and there … and then when you “own” the car, you sell it for whatever you can get for it.  The city gets rid of the car taking up space on the impound lot, the original owner doesn’t have to worry about any messy paperwork or headaches, you get to pocket a few bucks and some lucky person winds up with a used car for cheap.  It’s a win-win situation all the way around, isn’t it?

Or at least it is until the day an owner decides to claim his ten year old car. Which is what happened to a rocket surgeon named Phillip Brooks, Sr., here in Dayton. Our friend Phil, the cop in question, has been brought up on seven counts of forgery, eight counts of tampering with records, three counts of unauthorized use of the database, two counts of grand theft, one count of attempted grand theft and one count of theft in office — he faces 59 years if convicted.

The 22-count indictment involves three cars: a 1994 Nissan Brooks allegedly sold in November 2004, a 1997 Pontiac he allegedly sold in August 2007, and an unidentified vehicle he allegedly tried to sell in December 2008.

That (last) attempt “pretty much started the investigation,” said Greg Flannagan, spokesman for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

He denies all charges.   He says the people who gave him the cars are known crackheads and admitted serial liars.  They’re lying when they say they didn’t give him the cars.  He sold ‘em fair and square.  And he’s got some oceanfront property in Denver, Colorado, too.