Former Huling Bros. auto salesman's theft trial begins

In the summer of 2006, he stopped taking medication that kept his mental illness in check.

By July, his life savings were gone along with his new truck.

How that happened to the now-61-year-old Seattle man is unfolding in testimony in King County Superior Court as Paul Rimbey, the first of three former Huling Brothers Auto Center employees, is tried on first-degree theft charges.

Rimbey is accused of coercing the man into a contract that made it possible for the salesman to swindle him out of the pickup purchased from the auto dealership in West Seattle days before.

According to Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Tim Leary, the contractual arrangement, which Rimbey had the man sign while he was hospitalized in the Harborview Medical Center psychiatric unit, amounted to theft.

In it, Rimbey agreed to pay $1,000 in impound fees for the truck providing that the owner would pay him back in 30 days. If that didn't happen, the truck would belong to Rimbey.

It's not illegal, Rimbey's attorney, Tony Savage, told the jury, insisting the salesman tried multiple times to contact the truck's owner for payment before taking possession of it.

On July 21, 2006, the man — whom The Times is not naming being named because he is mentally ill and vulnerable — called police to report his truck stolen, though it had actually been towed and impounded.

Seattle police Officer Bruce Wind testified Thursday that he went to the man's Delridge Way apartment and realized the man had "serious problems," including wearing pants he had urinated and defecated in. In the man's T-shirt pocket was a wad of money.

His speech was slurred, his motions were jerky and he avoided eye contact — all signs that the man was seriously mentally ill, Wind said.

The officer said the man appeared to be so ill that at first he doubted whether the truck he reported being stolen existed — until the man showed him keys with a dealership tag still attached.

That led Wind to the Huling dealership, where salesman Jim "Pops" Cowan told him that the man had indeed bought the truck there and had been seen walking up and down the street telling people how much money he had.

Wind returned to the man's apartment and, to his horror, found piles of human feces all over the floor. Officers took the man to Harborview. The man was later sent to Western State Hospital.

According to police reports, Huling employees also had stolen cash from the man the day after he bought the truck.

Steve Huling, the dealership co-owner at the time, has reimbursed the man $100,000.

The victim is to testify next week.

But the ramifications of the incident didn't end there.

Huling had just found a buyer for the 60-year-old business and closed the deal Jan. 5, 2007 — 14 days before criminal charges were filed against Huling sales manager Adrian Dillard, Rimbey and Ted E. Coxwell.

The new owner, Gee Automotive Companies of Spokane, said the scandal caused sales to decline, forcing it to close the dealership.

Last month Gee sued Huling Brothers, the current landlord, for not disclosing the criminal investigation.

Huling countersued to evict Gee, claiming it had not paid rent in months.

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com