Columbia Man Charged With Operating Chop-Shop

A Columbia man has been charged with operating a chop-shop in Lexington County.

Here's the full release from the Lexington County Sheriff's Department:

Lexington County Sheriff’s Department detectives in cooperation with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles License & Theft Bureau and local law enforcement agencies in North Carolina arrested a 45-year-old Columbia man on charges that the man operated a chop shop on North Main Street in Gaston.

Lexington County Sheriff James R. Metts said the man is accused of dismantling two Chevrolet Camaros and two Chevrolet Corvettes that were worth a combined total of more than $300,000. The two Camaros and two Corvettes had been reported stolen from three car dealerships in North Carolina.

Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested Vernon Edward Gardner, 45, of 6326 Pinefield Road, Columbia, on arrest warrants on one count of operating a chop shop and four counts of possessing a stolen motor vehicle, Metts said. Gardner was being held on Thursday, February 21 at the Lexington County Detention Center on bail totaling $375,000.

An arrest warrant alleges that Gardner operated a chop shop at 252 North Main Street, Gaston, Metts said. Gardner knowingly stored stolen motor vehicles at the business and dismantled the vehicles in order to make it difficult to identify the vehicles as ones that had been reported stolen.Arrest warrants further allege that detectives executed a search warrant at Gardner’s chop shop on February 13 and found that Gardner possessed four motor vehicles worth a combined total of $320,000 that had been reported stolen from North Carolina car dealerships, Metts said.            

Arrest warrants allege that Gardner possessed two 2013 60th Anniversary Chevrolet Corvettes that had been reported stolen from Everette Chevrolet in Hickory, N.C., one 2013 Chevrolet Camaro that had been reported stolen from Randy Marion Chevrolet in Mooresville, N.C., and one 2013 Chevrolet Camaro that had been reported stolen from McKenney Chevrolet in Lowell, N.C., Metts said.

Sheriff’s deputies began investigating the chop shop after Lexington County Fire Service firefighters responded to a call about items being burned in a pit outside the business on North Main Street, Metts said. Firefighters found that Gardner was burning motor vehicle parts, with a large amount of parts from new motor vehicles arranged in piles near the fire pit. Firefighters reported their findings to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies found two motor vehicle doors near the fire pit, with vehicle identification numbers scratched off of the doors, Metts said. After they executed the search warrant at the chop shop, detectives found one Chevrolet Camaro and one Chevrolet Corvette in a work bay at the business and parts for other vehicles scattered throughout the property, which Gardner rented.

Under South Carolina, operating a chop shop is a felony that carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison, Metts said.Metts said the case remains under investigation. The sheriff said additional criminal charges might be filed against Gardner by the Sheriff’s Department, other local law enforcement agencies in South Carolina and state and local law enforcement agencies in North Carolina. 

Metts asked anyone with information about additional criminal activity involving Gardner to contact the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at (803) 785-8230 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Citizens also can provide information anonymously by accessing the Crime Tip link on the Sheriff’s Department web site (www.lexingtonsheriff.com).