Serial swindler busted after hitting multiple powersports dealerships
A Minnesota man with a lengthy history of theft and check fraud is now charged with stealing more than $200,000 from a dozen Twin Cities businesses, according to a Fox 9 report.
Richard Wooton, 54, is facing a new round of theft charges after police say he targeted a dozen dealerships last year, according to the report. He is being charged with writing bad checks to purchase motorcycles, heavy machinery, trailers, and even a boat.
Court documents claim Wooton stole more than $232,000 worth of items from May to October 2023. He would then sell many of the items on Facebook Marketplace for cash.
PSB’s 2023 Best In Class dealership award winner Simply Ride in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was one of Wooten’s victims.
“It seems whatever punishment he was previously doled out didn’t do the job,” Cy Webber, sales manager of Simply Ride told Fox 9.
Wooton has a lengthy history of theft by swindle, burglary, and check forgery charges dating back to 1989, reports state. Most recently, in 2019, he was convicted of theft charges after more than 40 people claimed they hired his company to remodel their home and he never did the work.
Webber said it wasn’t until two checks bounced that they Googled the customer and discovered his past.
“As soon as I pulled up Google… immediately I see this gentleman’s face, and it was a mugshot,” says Webber. “My heart just dropped.”
Because the alleged crimes were spread across the metro in various counties, the case was investigated and charged by the Hennepin County Complex Crime Unit, a source familiar with the investigation told Alpha News.
Charges say Wooton purchased several motorbikes, three scooters, several trailers, a zero-turn lawn mower, a motor, an ATV, a UTV, e-bikes, a skid steer, and a Sea-Doo boat from the 12 different businesses, returning to one of the businesses twice for purchases.
In each case, Wooton’s checks were returned for insufficient funds or closed checking accounts. Several of the businesses subsequently contacted Wooton about the returned checks, at which point Wooton made excuses that he’d used the wrong checkbook, said he’d send a new check, or asked the businesses to resubmit the checks to the bank, at which point they bounced again. Wooton sent new checks to some of the businesses, which also bounced, according to Alpha News.
Investigators obtained Wooton’s social media records which showed he tried to sell some of the merchandise on Facebook Marketplace.
Wooton is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the new charges on Feb. 20. And records show an anticipated release date of December 2024, barring any new convictions in the interim.
