Delaware County investigators have charged fired Radnor police officer Jamie Campbell with vehicle theft and altering identification records on vehicles.
Campbell, 50, who was a 12-year veteran, was fired in 2012 after he was accused of lying to a Warminster teenager who had responded to an ad that Campbell placed to sell a car. In addition, an arbitrator also found that he lied to a woman who wanted to rent him a room in her home, the Daily Times reported at the time.
In December into January, Campbell is alleged to have taken possession of two vehicles with suspicious paperwork.
According to the criminal complaint by Delaware County detective Michael Palmer of the auto theft unit and Chester Township Cpl. Jay Rattman, who is assigned to the Delaware County Auto Theft Task Force, information was received that in applying for a Pennsylvania vehicle license, Campbell had submitted a counterfeit vehicle identification number and a counterfeit Maryland title for a 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat.
The Durango
On Jan. 8, investigators went to Campbell’s home in the Swarthmore section of Ridley Township, located the Durango and spoke to Campbell. At that time Campbell gave investigators the okay to examine the car.
Their investigation revealed the Durango had been reported stolen in April 2023 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Investigators asked Campbell how he came to own the vehicle. He told them he had purchased the vehicle in King of Prussia from two men, one he described had a foreign accent and who had identified himself as the person on the Maryland title.
He had brought $55,000 in cash to buy the car and they were to meet in the parking lot of a steak house. He said arranged the meeting through Facebook Messenger and he said he had receipts for the cash, but never produced them.
He was provided just one key fob and it did not have a valet key, which is typically kept inside, investigators said.
Campbell told investigators he found the transaction unusual and “should have realized” but didn’t because he buys so many cars as part of his side business.
The BMW
About the same time, a second car with suspicious paperwork was on investigators’ radar, a 2022 BMW X4 M Series registered to a Ridley man.
The vehicle ID number on the BMW did not match the manufacturer’s specs and no shipping record for the vehicle could be found. A CarFax information report was also found to be inconsistent with the vehicle’s mileage and age.
On Jan. 15 the BMW was reported to Ridley police as stolen.
Two days later Detective Palmer, who was conducting a roving stolen vehicle detail, spotted the BMW covered in snow, backed into a parking space on the 600 block of North Street in Chester.
Police impounded the vehicle and at that time they noted the inconsistent appearance of the registration plates and appearance of the BMW manufacturer labels.
Getting the evidence
The next day investigators received information from the Department of Motor Vehicles showing the owner had purchased the BMW on Dec. 20 and provided sworn documents that they bought it from a Georgia man for $55,000.
Investigators spoke with Georgia Department of Revenue officials who confirmed the vehicle had never been titled in Georgia and that title was counterfeit. Investigators determined the vehicle had been reported stolen Nov. 25 in Saddlebrook, New Jersey.
The vehicle identification labels on the BMW were found to be counterfeit.
As part of the investigation, detectives interviewed the owner who initially lied, saying he purchased the BMW for $40,000 from a man he could not identify by name and said the BMW was in perfect condition at the time.
Investigators then presented him with state registration documentation signed by him, saying the BMW’s condition was “Need for Paint and Body work (as well) as Rear Glass.”
Confronted with that evidence, the man admitted those signed document statements were not true and he had conspired to split the sale tax listed on the form of the $58,000 sale price.
The man told investigators he had been provided the BMW by a lifelong friend of his, Jamie Campbell.
The witness told police Campbell was in possession of the BMW and a Dodge Durango Hellcat and Campbell offered to let him pay for the BMW in installments but if Campbell sold the vehicle to a third party, he would “transfer everything over.”
Campbell then instructed him on the paperwork and title process and accompanied him to the auto tag agency in Folsom where they submitted the false application.
After Campbell’s Durango was seized by police, Campbell contacted the witness and told him that the BMW “had to go.”
The witness parked the vehicle on the street in front of his home the night of Jan 14 and the next morning, knowing Campbell had arranged to get rid of it, the witness filed a false report with Ridley Township police.
On Feb. 26, investigators charged Campbell with numerous felonies, including transports, sells, transfers, purchases, etc.; illegally obtained from a chop shop, alteration or destruction of vehicle identification number; washing vehicle titles; forgery; insurance fraud; conspiracy; receiving stolen property and fraud.
He was arraigned by District Judge Elizabeth S. Gallard who released him on $150,000 unsecured bail.
His preliminary hearing date has not been set. Ridley District Judge George B. Dawson, who was assigned the case, has recused himself.
