Shreveport police say a 2006 Saturn Vue disappeared from a parking lot, but its trail did not end with whoever drove or hauled it away. Detectives later traced the SUV to a local salvage business.
The Shreveport Police Department said the Saturn had been stolen from the Hope Connections parking lot on Levy Street.
Police identified Nathan P. McCall and Brittany D. Sanders as the two people wanted in the case. Warrants have been issued accusing both of theft of a motor vehicle.
What detectives say happened between the parking lot and the salvage yard turns the case into more than a missing-car report: the Saturn had allegedly been sold.
The $270 Deal
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Detectives say Sanders arranged to have the vehicle picked up. McCall then allegedly signed paperwork representing himself as the rightful owner and sold the Saturn to the salvage business for $270.
Louisiana’s scrap-vehicle laws make the paperwork issue less simple than a blanket rule requiring a title in every transaction. Under state law governing ordinary motor vehicles sold as scrap, an owner generally assigns the certificate of title to the purchaser, who submits it with an application for a dismantling permit.
Louisiana also has a separate category called an “auto hulk.” State law defines a former motor vehicle as one that is no longer self-propelled or capable of carrying people or property on a public highway and whose primary value is as parts or scrap metal.
The Paper Trail
For an auto hulk, Louisiana Revised Statute 32:718 permits an owner to provide a signed and dated affidavit stating that the person owns the vehicle or has the right to sell it instead of producing a title.
That does not establish that the Saturn in this case qualified as an auto hulk. Police did not describe the SUV’s condition or say which provision governed its sale.
The auto-hulk statute requires a scrap processor or licensed automotive dismantler to keep the seller’s affidavit, identifying information, and the vehicle identification number. The VIN must also be reported to the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles before the vehicle is dismantled, crushed, or otherwise destroyed. If the state’s return message says the vehicle has been reported stolen, the business must leave it intact and notify local law enforcement.
The department’s public account identifies the salvage business only as the buyer and does not accuse it of wrongdoing.
Still On The List
A current-status check on Sept. 12 found both names still listed by the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office. McCall appears on the active-warrant list with a Sept. 8 warrant date, while Sanders appears on the list with a Sept. 9 warrant date.
Shreveport police asked anyone who knows where McCall or Sanders can be found to contact the department.
The title-versus-affidavit distinction comes directly from Louisiana’s current statutes: ordinary scrap-vehicle sales generally require title assignment, while qualifying auto hulks have the affidavit route and VIN-reporting requirements described above. Both McCall and Sanders remained on the Caddo Parish active-warrant lists during the Sept. 12 check.