Four men linked to a tire shop in Texas have been arrested and charged with engaging in organized crime.
According to the Texas Department of Safety, Pike Tire in Conroe, Texas, issued thousands of fraudulent passing semi truck inspections to vehicles they didn’t inspect. Prosecutors allege that some passing inspections where handed down to vehicles they didn’t even lay eyes on.
The owners, father and son team of Derrell and Vincent Pike, were arrested after a lengthy investigation. Officials say the shop issued 127 fake inspections in a six-week period.
Timothy Roberts, a certified truck inspector, was also arrested for his role in the scheme. According to court documents, the Pike’s hired Roberts and promised him a “vehicle, warehouse space, and additional storage,” in order to use his license to hand down the fake inspection documents.
“Derrell Pike stated the agreement was ‘You use the truck and I use the license…we’re even,” the documents read.
Lastly, Gary Hoffman, the owner of Houston trucking company Shark Trucking, was also arrested. He’s accused of knowingly purchasing fake inspections from Pike Tire on multiple occasions. DPS officials say Hoffman regularly received fake inspection paperwork from the shop, often times without ever physically bringing the vehicle there.