DILLON, SC (WBTW) – The owner of Dillon Family Auto Center who was jailed after he sold a woman’s car but failed to pay her now faces 10 additional charges of breach of trust more than $10,000.
According to Dillon Police Chief David Lane, Brandon Davis is charged with 11 counts of breach of trust over $10,000 and two counts fo breach of trust $2,000 to $10,000. One charge was confirmed Thursday, and the additional charges were added to Davis’ rap sheet as of Friday morning. Lane initially could not go into detail about the charges, stating the case is still under investigation, but police released a report Thursday evening.
The report says police were called about a civil dispute at Davis Family Auto Sales. The caller told police she made a verbal agreement to sell her Ford F-150 truck and when she dropped the car off, it still had the tag and insurance on it. A few weeks later when she returned, Davis sold the truck but the woman had not received any payment.
Davis told her he would pay the Anderson Brothers Bank in Mullins after he got the full amount of money from the new truck owner. When the woman and her husband contacted Davis, he gave them the runaround, the police report noted. The woman says Davis only paid $1,000 to the bank when the complainant stated they owe $30,000 on the truck.
When officers interviewed Davis, he initially told police he had to wait for the credit bureau to access the money. The police report says he later admitted to officers he had in fact received the money for the truck, but used the money and “did not have all of it at the time.”
On Friday, police released six more police reports from customers David allegedly defrauded. Three different victims filed reports and told police they bought a car from Davis and discovered a lien on the car.
Another customer complained in a police report that after they traded their mustang in for a new car, the bank called and threatened to repossess the mustang because she had not been making payments on the vehicle.
Chief Lane says customers who are concerned about a car purchase from Davis Family Auto Center can contact police.
“If they are not having any title problems, they should be okay,” says Chief Lane. “If they are having problems getting titles or tags, contact investigators.”
News13 spoke with two employees of the car dealership, which is located at 106 Radford Blvd. in Dillon, who denied our request to go on camera, but both voiced concern for their jobs. One employee, who said he’s been working for the Davis Family Auto Center since October, says he drove cars purchased at auctions back to the dealership and worked on social media marketing campaigns. The dealership worker says he has not been interviewed by police and isn’t sure if he’ll still have a job after Davis’ arrest.
The second employee says he was at work Monday and it seemed like a regular day until officers arrived at the dealership to arrest Davis. That employee says he’s looking for a new job.
A video featuring Brandon Davis posted to the Davis Family Auto Center Facebook page states the dealership opened October 20, 2016 after the City of Dillon permitted the business to open.
A post to the dealership’s Facebook page written by a person who identified herself as a former customer says she just discovered there was a lien on the vehicle she purchased from Davis Family Auto Dealership. She warns other buyers to check the vin numbers of vehicles purchased from the lot to ensure there are no liens.
Calls to Brandon Davis’ cell phone were unanswered as were calls to the car dealership.
Davis was released from the Dillon County Detention Center after posting an $18,000 bond Monday, May 8 according to booking records.