Two Vancouver men arrested in stolen Tesla ring case

Two Vancouver men were among several people Portland police arrested Sept. 30 in connection with a stolen Tesla ring.

The agency said the stolen vehicle sting, focused in east Portland, was one of the several regular operations investigators conduct. Officers located 13 stolen vehicles in 21 traffic stops. They arrested 11 people, recovered two stolen guns and towed 14 vehicles, according to a news release.

One Vancouver man, identified by police as Todd A. Mouton, 32, of Vancouver, sped away from police into Vancouver in a stolen Dodge Challenger, the department said. Portland police air support followed him, and officers saw him run from the car and into a residence.

Vancouver police later arrested him, according to the Portland news release.

Mouton’s arrest, along with the arrest of another Vancouver man who was driving a stolen Tesla, Daniel S. McNett, 34, led investigators to find five more stolen Teslas. Portland police said the Vancouver men are suspects in a stolen Tesla ring spanning across Vancouver, Washington County, Ore., and Multnomah County, Ore.

Investigators say the cars were taken from Tesla service centers, and the thieves disabled the vehicles’ GPS to disable tracking.

Police believe suspects stole 10 Teslas in total, the news release states.

The news release did not say what McNett and Mouton are charged with. Officials are working with Tesla to prosecute the cases.

The agency said information from the PDX stolen cars Facebook group helped in the operation. Portland police says it has received decreasing reports of stolen vehicles over the past few months, compared with the prior year.