- Sasha Goldstein Seven Days
"Pizza man" wasn't as dumb as they thought.
Local law enforcement reportedly once gave Michael A. Gonzalez the nickname following an unfortunate 2018 encounter in which he was arrested after confusing a uniformed cop for a pizza delivery driver.
But over the course of the following years, the Colchester man pulled off a series of heists of Tesla electric cars worth a combined $607,000, according to a federal indictment unsealed Friday.
One of the vehicles involved ended up a fireball on the frozen surface of Lake Champlain in winter 2019 in a mysterious incident.
Gonzalez, 32, managed to steal five Teslas by exploiting a company sale procedure that allowed him to take possession of the cars before his bank transfers had cleared. He then swiftly resold them through used car dealerships and online ads for profit, the feds allege. As soon as the previous car sold, Gonzalez bought another one.
According to the indictment:
In September 2018, Gonzalez reserved a Tesla Model 3 that cost $58,200. He made a $2,500 down payment and set up an automated clearing house to transfer to pay the remainder. Prosecutors allege Gonzalez knew his account didn't have the funds to cover the purchase.
Tesla delivered the Model 3 to Burlington and gave Gonzalez the proof-of-ownership paperwork. Days later, the bank rejected the transfer of funds. On December 31, 2018, Gonzalez took the car to a used car dealership in Williston, where he sold it for $42,500.
The...
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