ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — The St. Petersburg Police Department arrested a woman for stealing and then selling her neighbor’s cars for scrap.
Rosalee Baker, 55, of St. Petersburg allegedly tried to sell her neighbor’s 2001 BMW and a 2000 Ford F-150 to a scrap yard in Hillsborough County, according to an affidavit from SPPD. Baker allegedly took the car and truck and contacted a buyer from Small Planet Recycling, LLC.
She pretended to be the owner to sell the vehicles for scrap. Baker was arrested on Thanksgiving.
According to St. Petersburg police, Baker and a representative from Small Planet completed a bill of sale, a derelict motor vehicle form and a request to cancel a title for the BMW. She did the same for a silver Ford F-150.
Baker gave her Florida ID number and a thumb print on the cancel title form, then got $300 for each car.
The car and truck were then towed to a salvage yard, where they were listed as stolen while in the yard’s possession, the affidavit states. Due to the salvage yard’s location, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the stolen vehicles.
A latent fingerprint was confirmed by a print examiner, according to police, and the owners of the BMW and the F-150 intend to press charges.
Baker was arrested on six charges. She faces two counts of felony dealing in stolen property, two counts of felony false verification of ownership and two counts of felony grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Bond was assessed at $130,000 according to Pinellas County jail records.
