Authorities: car-theft ring busted in North Charleston, Berkeley County

Local minister accused of playing role

A local Baptist minister and an attractive blonde played key roles in a recently uncovered auto-theft ring that boosted more than 30 vehicles from dealership lots, authorities said.

Police are still looking for the blonde, who they say distracted dealership employees so thieves could switch out keys to return during off hours and to drive vehicles away. The minister, the Rev. Tory Fields of Union Baptist Church in Charleston, is out on bail and claims he is just another one of the rings’s unwitting victims.

Detectives described a scheme that began by disguising the origin of wrecked, inoperable cars at wrecking yards. Then, they said, ring members stole similar vehicles from car dealerships, a feat allegedly accomplished by switching fake keys while posing as prospective buyers, then returning during the night and driving off.

Finally, detectives said, ring members swapped out valid registrations and tags from the salvage vehicles, making the stolen vehicle appear legit.

The ruse was clever enough to earn back-handed compliments such as “very smart,” “elaborate” and “very organized” from the police who investigated the case.

“When our officers are pulling over vehicles, the tags are coming back clear, the registration is coming back clear,” said North Charleston police Detective Jason Forsythe. “We did recover many of them, and once we did, the VIN numbers came back stolen.”

Investigators included police from Charleston and North Charleston; Charleston and Berkeley County sheriff’s detectives; and agents from the State Law Enforcement Division and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

To date, authorities have recovered 23 stolen vehicles valued at more than $600,000, Forsysthe said, and think at least 10 others disappeared as part of the same scheme. They ranged from full-size pickups, to sedans and sports cars stolen throughout the Palmetto State, as well as North Carolina and Georgia. Most were sold on the side of the road for cash.

Authorities arrested Fields on July 1 after searching his home at 1010 Deerberry Road in Goose Creek and finding two stolen pickups, affidavits state. The investigation also linked the pastor to two stolen vehicles found in North Charleston.

Fields is charged with four total counts of possessing a stolen motor vehicle, two each in both Charleston and Berkeley counties. He left the Charleston County Detention Center July 4 after posting $15,000 bail; his bail in Berkeley County was not immediately known.

Also charged in the case are four others accused of possessing vehicles stolen in the scheme: Sonya F. Jones, 31; Michelle Clark, 25; her brother, Antonio Clark, 31; and Kriishna Antonio Myers, also 31.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.