11 auto dealership employees accused of bilking mentally ill man out of $100,000

Eleven employees of a West Seattle automobile dealership allegedly were involved in a plot that resulted in the theft of more than $100,000 from a mentally ill man, King County Prosecutors say.

First, salesmen sold the man a high-priced truck, then they broke into his home to steal more cash, say prosecutors and Seattle Police. They also allege that one salesman then talked the man -- by then committed to a mental health unit at Harborview Medical Center -- into selling the truck to him at a fraction of its value.

Three men, Ted Coxwell, 39, Raymond Rimbey, 39, and Adrian Dillard, 32, the former sales manager at Huling Bros., face charges that include burglary, theft and money laundering. The eight others have not yet been charged, said Deputy Prosecutor Lynn Prunhuber.

On July 21, the West Seattle man walked into Huling Bros. and expressed interest in a GMC Canyon pickup. When the man, whose sweatpants were covered in urine and feces, told a salesman that he had enough cash at his apartment to pay for the vehicle, the salesman drove the man home in a company fleet van, according to charging papers filed this week in King County Superior Court.

The West Seattle man, who is not being identified because of his illness, came out of his apartment about 10 minutes later with a sack of $100 bills totaling $30,000. The man then told the salesman that he had about another $70,000 inside, according to Seattle police.

The salesman later told his colleagues about the money the man said he had inherited, police said.

On July 22, the mentally ill man showed up at the dealership to say that his truck had been stolen or towed, according to police. The man hadn't remembered that he had parked it in Mercer Island; it had been impounded.

Staff at the auto dealership then began scheming, police said. They decided that two employees would drive the man to get his car while several others, including Dillard and Coxwell, would break into the man's house, according to police and prosecutors. After Dillard and Coxwell stole the $70,000, four other employees went into the home but came out empty-handed, police said.

On July 27, the mentally ill man called police to report that his truck and his money were gone. The officer who showed up at the apartment called for an ambulance to take the man to Harborview Medical Center for a mental health evaluation, police said.

While at Harborview, the man called Huling Bros. and talked to Rimbey, who was a salesman. Police said Rimbey came up with a plan to get the man to turn over his truck, pay the impound fee and a $3,000 service charge. Rimbey showed up at the hospital with a contract and then got a notary public at the hospital to sign off on it, police said.

About a week later, two other Huling Bros. employees returned to the apartment, only to find that the man had been evicted, police reports said.

Police were notified about the scheme by the Huling Bros. employees after a former dealership employee accused of stealing another car told them about it. "The opportunity presented itself and they took it," said Seattle police Detective Caryn Lee.

Since the thefts, Huling Bros. has reimbursed the man $30,000 for the truck, Detective Lee said. The man has since been admitted to Western State Hospital.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com