SARASOTA, FLORIDA: In a stunning turn of events, Florida man Daniel Boyce, 36, has been arrested on charges of fraud and theft after allegedly registering a stolen 1977 Porsche 911 Turbo from the renowned Sarasota Classic Car Museum. The audacious scheme involved using the VIN number from a different vintage 911 sourced from a California salvage yard to falsely register the car, according to official police records.
The targeted Porsche 911 Turbo, a prized early 3.0-liter model, holds immense value among collectors. While the 3.3-liter Turbos of later iterations are heralded as the performance exemplars within the 930 family, the scarcity of the smaller motor variant contributes to its desirability. The museum estimates the car's worth to hover around $250,000.
Brazen heist unfolds at Sarasota Classic Car Museum
The investigation commenced when law enforcement responded to an alarm triggered at the Sarasota Classic Car Museum during the early hours of June 14. Initial attempts to establish contact with museum personnel proved fruitless, leading the officers to conclude that the premises were secure. Little did they realize that the situation was far from secure.
Subsequent visits later that morning revealed pry marks on a doorway and a breached section of fencing. Incredibly, seven vehicles had been shifted to make way for the stolen Porsche, which was conspicuously absent. The elusive robbery suspect, who remains unidentified, managed to utilize on-site fuel and the keys found in the car's driver's footwell to effortlessly abscond with the valuable vehicle.
Surveillance footage briefly captured the missing Porsche, but the case remained puzzling. A breakthrough emerged when an anonymous tipster revealed that a certain Boyce had been seen with a brown Porsche at an undisclosed local warehouse.
Multijurisdictional cooperation unveils intricate fraud scheme
Collaborative efforts among the Sarasota Police Department, Hillsborough and Manatee County Sheriffs, and a Sarasota County Tax Collector supervisor led to the discovery that the Florida man allegedly registered a brown Porsche 911 through a company named Triton Engineering LLC on June 21. Shockingly, the associated VIN corresponded to a 1976 Porsche 911 from a California salvage yard, which had suffered damage 23 years prior.
Further scrutiny revealed allegedly fraudulent documents, including a Maine bill of sale, an odometer verification letter, and an approval letter from Triton Engineering used for the registration process. The legal pursuit of Boyce gained momentum when he was arrested on July 21 for failing to appear in court on a Grand Theft Auto charge in Sarasota County.
Subsequent examination of the Florida man's phone, authorized under a search warrant, unveiled incriminating images of the stolen Porsche 911 Turbo inside a storage unit, complete with unit details and access codes. Armed with this vital information, law enforcement successfully located and reclaimed the purloined vehicle.
On July 26, Boyce faced an additional felony charge of scheming to defraud (exceeding $50,000), and is being regarded as a "person of interest" in connection to the robbery, as indicated by the police. The Florida man is currently in custody without bond at the Sarasota County Jail. While more charges may be impending, Boyce's arraignment is scheduled for September 22, where further legal proceedings will unfold in this intricate case of fraud and theft that has rattled both the local and collector communities alike.
