PORTLAND, Maine — Multiple Portland-area police departments are accusing a 46-year-old man of using false identities to steal at least seven vehicles from six area car dealerships.
Robert G. Steiner is being charged with multiple counts of forgery and theft, according to a Monday afternoon news release by Portland police Lt. James Sweatt.
Steiner used aliases and convinced dealerships to sell him cars with no money down, forged paperwork to complete the deals and left the lots with no plans to pay for the vehicles, Sweatt wrote, in part.
Steiner allegedly used the names Scott Allen, William Wheeler and Adam Cohen on his forged sales documents.
The total value of the allegedly stolen vehicles was more than $250,000, police said.
According to Monday’s news release, Portland police first learned of Steiner’s alleged activities when Berlin City Toyota on Riverside Street reported the thefts of two vehicles on June 2.
A Portland police detective remembered investigating Steiner for similar crimes several years earlier, Sweatt wrote, and police discovered the suspect had recently been released from prison.
After Portland police issued an alert about the reported scam, police departments in Scarborough, South Portland, Yarmouth, Westbrook and Saco came forward with similar reports of dealerships being victimized.
Police are now asking any additional car dealerships that may have been scammed by Steiner to notify their local police departments immediately.
Steiner was arrested and taken into custody on June 5 by South Portland police while allegedly attempting to steal a vehicle at another dealership.
He was taken into custody for violating terms of his probation and is currently being held at the Cumberland County Jail. On Monday, Portland police added two counts of Class B felony theft and four counts of Class B aggravated forgery to the list of charges facing Steiner, and other police departments are expected to add charges against him as well in the coming days.
