A Pennsylvania man was arrested in a stolen vehicle with a trailer he claimed to be taking back home from a previous hurricane.
An officer observed the driver of a white GMC Denali pickup truck, later identified as 42-year-old Wei Xiang Li, traveling south on U.S. 301 around 2:55 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
The pickup was towing a flatbed utility trailer with a Pennsylvania tag. The trailer tag did not have a revalidation decal affixed to it, and there were no working trailer brake lights. A check of the tag revealed it was registered to a 2018 Deep South trailer that expired in April 2022, the report said.
An officer subsequently stopped the pickup and while approaching the vehicle noticed the Texas tag was covered by a smoke-colored tag cover. He asked Li for his driver’s license, vehicle registration and trailer registration. Li presented a Pennsylvania driver’s license but did not have registration for the truck or trailer, the report said.
Li advised that the trailer was his. He drove to Florida to recover his trailer that was left here from a previous hurricane, the report said.
The officer went back to his patrol vehicle and ran the GMC’s tag. He learned the tag was assigned to a brown 2022 Chevrolet pickup truck. He also noticed the brown color did not match the vehicle the tag was affixed to, the report said.
The officer walked to the GMC and wrote down the VIN to compare with the computer. Because the VIN did not match, he ran it through dispatch and learned that the pickup truck was reported stolen out of Ohio in January. The truck had an Ohio tag affixed to it at the time of the theft, the report said.
Li was asked where he got the truck from, and he stated he got it from a friend. He did not give any further details about his friend, the report said.
Li was subsequently arrested on charge of grand theft of motor vehicle. He was also issued citations for expired tag over six months and unsafe motor vehicle (no trailer lights). He was transported to Sumter County Jail and released after posting $2,500 bond.