By Eve Nowell 
A New Jersey auto shop employee has been charged after authorities said she sold a customer’s vehicle to a scrap yard without permission, resulting in the car being crushed before police could recover it. The incident occurred in Bloomingdale after a woman left her vehicle at a local repair shop and was unable to retrieve it.
Police said the vehicle’s owner had spent months attempting to contact the shop to check on repairs and arrange pickup. According to authorities, mechanics avoided her calls during that time. After growing suspicious and failing to get answers, the woman reported the vehicle missing. Investigators traced the car to a private scrap company and determined it had already been destroyed.
Authorities reported that 49-year-old Maribel Pena-Matos, an employee at the shop, allegedly impersonated the vehicle’s owner and unlawfully sold the car to the scrap yard. Investigators said Pena-Matos presented herself as the rightful owner in order to complete the sale. It remains unclear how much money was exchanged. By the time officers located the vehicle, the scrap yard had crushed it and transported it to an out-of-state facility.
Pena-Matos now faces charges including impersonation and motor vehicle theft. The vehicle’s owner has been left without her car and must now address the financial fallout through insurance.
Authorities confirmed that the suspect has been charged in connection with the incident. The investigation has established that the vehicle was destroyed before it could be recovered, and the case is proceeding through the legal system.
Shawn Henry