Jan 6, 2006 10:49 pm US/Central
Infamous BMW Still Registered To Previous Owner
by Jack Fink
(CBS 11 News)
A car that once made headlines is now back in the news again.
Last June, a BMW driven by Mayor Pro-Tem Don Hill became the center of an FBI investigation into corruption at Dallas City Hall.
As CBS 11 News then reported, the car was actually owned by Hill's political consultant Sheila Farrington. However, the car was still registered in the name of its previous owner, Dan Thorne. In fact, it is still registered in his name and he's not happy about it.
Thorne explains, "It's been a year – it's January '06 and I sold it January '05 – and I want this taken care of."
Last August, Thorne was notified that the car, still in his name, was repeatedly photographed traveling the Dallas North Tollway without paying, collecting $900 in unpaid tolls and fines.
He called the Tollway Authority and had the charges cleared after showing proof that he sold the BMW in January 2005 to a car dealer.
Last month, Thorne says he received a $30 ticket for parking in a 'No Standing' area in downtown Dallas. Last week, Thorne received a warning with a $55 penalty.
Neither councilman Hill or Farrington returned phone calls and the fines have still not been paid.
"I guess I'm just fearful of a warrant for my arrest," says Thorne.
As confirmed last summer, the BMW was connected to the Millennium Auto Group of south downtown. Under state law, whenever a used car dealership sells a vehicle to an individual customer, the car must be registered with the new owner's name within 21 days. That didn't happen in Thorne's case.
CBS 11 News went back to Millennium Auto Group on Friday, but the lot is now empty.
The state suggests Thorne fill out a form notifying the state that he no longer owns the car.
Thorne says, "It's an extra pain I shouldn't have to deal with. I'm busy. I travel a lot for work, and I just don't have a lot of time to mess with this."
(CBS 11 News)
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