Two men were taken into custody Wednesday morning after Palm Beach County deputies pulled over a Rolls‑Royce Wraith that had been reported stolen, bringing a high‑end game of hide‑and‑seek to a quiet end on Interstate 95 near the Indiantown Road exit in Jupiter. The luxury car was tracked by GPS and the stop ended without incident.
How deputies tracked and stopped the car
According to WPBF, Baltimore County police alerted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office’s South Florida Criminal Apprehension Team after the Wraith was located via GPS. SFCAT agents monitored the vehicle as it headed toward the Indiantown Road exit, and deputies then carried out a felony traffic stop on I‑95, detaining both men without any trouble.
Luxury‑car thefts in South Florida
Organized crews and opportunistic thieves targeting high‑end rides have been on law enforcement’s radar across South Florida, with a string of recent recoveries and arrests tied to pricey models. The National Insurance Crime Bureau has documented cases of rare luxury vehicles being singled out, while NBC6 has reported on multiple crackdowns involving Rolls‑Royces, Ferraris, and other six‑figure machines.
What investigators found and the charges
Investigators said the Wraith’s original factory vehicle identification number had been tampered with: the public VIN plate, federal sticker, and other labels all showed a falsified number. Deputies were still able to verify the true VIN and confirmed the car had been listed in the NCIC stolen vehicle database on Feb. 11, WPBF reports. The occupants were identified as 26‑year‑old Cristopher Yojan Diaz and 35‑year‑old Angel Morales, who now both face charges of grand theft over $100,000 and possession of a vehicle with an altered VIN. During interviews, Diaz told investigators he only knew Morales as an acquaintance, while Morales said he had traveled from Georgia to Miami to see a woman he met online and claimed he had lost his driver’s license.
Legal penalties
Under Florida law, theft charges fall under Florida Statutes §812.014, while crimes involving altered vehicle identification numbers are addressed in Florida Statutes §319.33. Those laws allow prosecutors to pursue felony counts for high‑value theft and for possessing or disposing of a vehicle with a destroyed or altered VIN, meaning defendants can face multiple penalties if convicted.
