Probe Launched After Sheriff's Official Buys Stolen Car
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has launched an internal investigation after a newspaper found a top-ranking official bought a stolen car from the owner of a towing company that contracts with the department.
Assistant Sheriff Michael Rothans tells the Los Angeles Times he had no idea he was driving a stolen car until more than a year after he bought it.
Rothans, the department's third-ranking official, paid $3,000 for the 2012 Audi A4 last year. It was purchased from Lisa Vernola, a longtime friend who owns Vernola's Towing in Norwalk.
The newspaper says the Audi had been seized from a suspected gang member at a drunken-driving checkpoint.
Rothans says he considered the transaction a private sale between himself and Vernola.
Rothans has returned the car.