First trial begins in case of former Huling Brothers car salesmen accused of swindling mentally ill man
The first in a series of criminal trials involving former Huling Brothers Auto Center employees started today in King County Superior Court.
Former salesman Paul Rimbey is charged with first-degree theft for allegedly coercing a mentally ill 61-year-old man into agreeing to a contract that made it possible for the salesman to swindle him out of a new pickup purchased from the auto dealership. The victim, who had a history of mental illness, came into Huling Brothers in July 2006 wearing feces-stained pants and seeking to buy a truck. The man paid $30,000 for a vehicle, and told a salesman he had far more money back at his apartment, according to police reports.
The next day, according to a Washington State Patrol report, former sales manager Adrian G. Dillard and five underlings practically tripped over each other to be the first to steal the remaining cash. According to the report, Dillard and another salesman, Ted Coxwell, succeeded.
One salesman reportedly drove the man to his Delridge Way apartment and was shocked when he came out with a bag containing $30,000 in cash for a new Chevrolet truck. Prosecutors allege that Rimbey later went to see the man at Harborview Medical Center’s psychiatric unit with a contract that said Rimbey would pay the $1,000 impound fees but he had to be reimbursed in full within 30 days or the truck would be his. The man signed the contract at the hospital, where it was also notarized. When the man’s Social Security checks didn’t arrive that month and the man had no money to pay Rimbey, Rimbey took the truck, prosecutors allege.
Tony Savage, Rimbey’s attorney, argued that what the salesman did was not illegal.
Tim Leary, the senior deputy prosecuting attorney, said it was “part of a common scheme or plan,” and amounted to theft.
The two other salesmen are to go to trial at the end of November.
Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com