Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno held a news conference at a tow yard in North Fort Myers Monday to announce the arrests of three people on a total 23 charges, including grand theft, fail to notify law enforcement of a towed vehicle and operating a chop shop. CHUCK BALLARO

Individuals associated with a tow truck company reportedly doing recovery work in the wake of Hurricane Ian are facing charges after investigators say they victimized people who suffered a casualty loss.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno held a news conference at a tow yard in North Fort Myers Monday to announce the arrests of three people on a total 23 charges, including grand theft, fail to notify law enforcement of a towed vehicle and operating a chop shop.

Arrested last Thursday were Marcder Gurrier, 48, Zulma Robles, 45, and Joseph Richard Dunston, 36, Marceno said, adding Dunston is on federal probation for bank robbery involving a machine gun.

Only Robles could be located on the Lee County Jail website, which states she bonded out Friday. Charges include own operate conduct or aid and abet chop shop; fail to notify law enforcement of a towed vehicle and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Blessing Towing came to the attention of the LCSO in January when North District detectives were alerted to a tow company that was trying to recover vehicles destroyed by the hurricane, reportedly without the required permits.

The crew came from Philadelphia, Marceno said, adding that wanting to believe they were here to help, detectives met with them and provided them with all the state laws to protect their business.

“Instead of trying to help, these criminals stole vehicles and scammed owners. One of the scams was to tow storm-damaged cars and lie to the owners that the insurance company settled,” Marceno said. “They would wait months to report to the insurance company and, while doing that, charged tens of thousands of dollars to store the vehicles.”

This left vehicle owners dealing with insurance companies as the operation hid behind the paperwork and deception as the money that the insurance companies paid for the cars, written off as losses, were paid to the company, Marceno said.

A major break came when a driver whose car had broken down on the side of the road reported it had vanished, leading them to believe it was stolen. The detectives went to the yard on Northside Circle and found the victim’s car with the word “abandoned” on the windshield.

Detectives secured a series of search warrants which resulted in nine stolen vehicles, a stolen trailer, three golf carts, and two stolen boats, Marceno said. The LCSO seized two tow trucks and the property.

Due to the lot having seven stolen vehicles concealed on their site, it was classified as a chop shop, the arrest report states.

The case is still active.

“Crimes like this shouldn’t happen, but when they do, we immediately go to work, non-stop, to bring these criminals to justice,” Marceno said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the men and women of the LCSO. When there’s fraud, we all pay for that. When insurance companies pay out money for fraud, it affects everybody.”