Seized Car’s Guardians Accused of Looting It

A grand jury indictment filed in U. S. District Court in San Diego on Wednesday accuses three owners of a San Diego storage company of stealing $200,000 from the trunk of an impounded car on their property, authorities said.

Named in the indictment are Jayson Seymour Greene, 67, of Coronado; his son, Ronald A. Greene, 38, of Pacific Beach, and Jeff Tieger, 34, of Normal Heights.

Assistant U. S. Atty. Larry Burns said the three, the owners and operators of AAAA Auto Storage & Park at 165 6th Ave., conspired to withhold the discovery of the money from U. S. Customs Service officials.

Burns said the company had a contract with the Customs Service to store cars that had been seized by its agents.

Several Cars Seized

On Sept. 27, Drug Enforcement Administration officials and customs agents arrested San Diego resident Humberto Sanchez on suspicion of drug trafficking and seized several cars, including a 1988 Jaguar that Sanchez drove, Burns said.

All the cars were searched except the Jaguar and were impounded at AAAA Auto Storage & Park. Burns said customs officials could not find a key to the Jaguar’s trunk at the time.

“But one of the responsibilities of AAAA is to inventory all items of the car. When they find things, they are to report to customs,” he said.

“We allege that, in conducting an inventory of the car, Ron Greene and Jeff Tieger discovered the money in the trunk. We believe they removed the money from the trunk, took it to Jayson Greene, and the three conspired to withhold the money and information of its discovery from customs officials.”

A woman at AAAA Auto Storage & Park said she had not heard about the indictment and had no comment. None of the three men who were indicted could be reached for comment.

Money Has Been Returned

Burns said customs officials have already moved to sever their contract with the company. The $200,000 has been returned, he said, adding that, on Nov. 23, Ronald Greene turned over $150,000 to FBI agents and customs officials. Lawyers for the three men returned the rest of the money last week, he said.

Burns would not say how authorities discovered the alleged theft, except to say they had been tipped off that there was money in the trunk of the Jaguar.

“During the course of the investigation, (authorities) looked at spending habits, bank accounts . . . and found that the three had come into a large amount of money recently,” he said.

Jayson Greene, Ronald Greene and Jeff Tieger have not been arrested, but have been notified to appear Jan. 9 in U. S. District Court before U. S. Magistrate Barry Moskowitz.

Each faces a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment and $250,000 in fines.