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Titus County Deputies Arrest Mechanic

From Titus County Sheriff’s Facebook Page

Beginning on or about April 26, 2022, Titus County Sheriff’s Office conducted the first of several investigations related to suspicious thefts from and suspicious usage of several customers’ vehicles after they left them at the Beetle Shop, located at 565 CR 2430 at the intersection of F.M. 899.

First, a customer who had left a vehicle at the Beetle Shop for repairs unrelated to the exhaust system discovered that the catalytic converters had been stolen from the car and replaced with an exhaust pipe section.

Second, a customer left a vehicle at the Beetle Shop for repairs. The car had a GPS tracker, and an investigation discovered that the car had accumulated several thousand miles on the odometer. A purported mechanic ha from the Beetle Shop named Michael Ray Whitaker, 52-year-old of Titus County, had driven it. Deputies arrested Whitaker at that time for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle. Then on May 25, the Sheriff’s Office received another complaint from a customer who had left their vehicle at the Beetle Shop for repairs. They later discovered that someone had stolen the catalytic converters and had installed a replacement pipe. That investigation is still ongoing.

On Thursday, May 26, 2022, Titus County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Michael Ray Whitaker on a felony indictment for the theft alleged around April 26, 2022. They transported Whitaker to the Titus County Jail, where he is awaiting arraignment by a magistrate.

Titus County Sheriff’s Office would not usually post information regarding how businesses operate in Titus County. However, in this case, we believe there is a compelling need to make the public aware of the repetitive offenses related to customers who leave their vehicles at the Beetle Shop for repairs.