Police: Pair at car lot stole $1 million
Two accused of keeping money from used-vehicle sales.
A Cedar Park car lot owner and a salesman have been accused of stealing about $1 million from more than 19 customers who put their cars up for sale at the business.
Donald Taylor, 56, of Austin, and David Parsons, 48, of Leander, were both charged Thursday with first- degree felony theft.
Taylor is the owner of Austin Auto Web, a car lot at 14301 Ronald Reagan Blvd. in Cedar Park, according to an arrest affi-davit. Parsons is a salesman for Taylor, the document said.
The Williamson County Sheriff ’s Offiffice discovered the thefts, it said, after several customers complained to authorities in July that they hadn’t received any money when the cars, campers and even a bass boat that they had consigned to the car lot were sold.
One man said he had gone to the car lot July 7 to get his vehicle back and found it was not there, the affidavit said. Taylor told the man that his vehicle possibly had been sold, it said.
The customer went into a filing cabinet at the office and found the folder for his vehicle, the affi-davit said. Inside the folder, it said, the customer saw his signature had been forged on a document stating he had sold his vehicle to Taylor.
The man told authorities that he never sold his vehicle to Austin Auto Web or gave permission to sign his name, the affi-davit said, and that he was never paid any money for his vehicle, which was worth $20,000.
Parsons later told a detective that he had forged the man’s signature on the back of the title to the car, the affi- davit said. “He (Parsons) also made the statement that he just did what he was told to do,” the court document said.
Several other customers of Austin Auto Web also complained to authorities in July that the car lot had sold their vehicles — including a 2005 Corvette, a 2004 Champion Bass boat and several Ford pickups — using forged documents and without paying them, the affidavit said.
Parsons and Taylor stole $ 1,005,100 from more than 19 victims, it said. The court document also said “there are additional 42 potential victims who purchased vehicles, but are not named as a victim since they have possession of the vehicle pending court disposition.”
Taylor was released from the Williamson County Jail on Friday after posting bond set at $20,000, according to court records. Parsons was released from the jail on Saturday after posting bond set at $50,000, according to the records.