Former Tampa car dealer arrested for stealing 2 Cadillac Escalades, officials say

HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A traffic stop led Troopers to discover a 39-year-old driver stole two Cadillac Escalades, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Yajaira Martinez, of Riverview, was stopped by Florida Highway Patrol Troopers for speeding and a tag violation on a 2018 Cadillac Escalade on I-75 in Sumter County.

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Martinez told Troopers she didn’t have the paperwork for the car. Officials noticed the vehicle identification number on the front windshield looked unprofessional and appeared to have been tampered with. A request for a secondary VIN showed it had been tampered with.

Troopers discovered the car had dealer plates attached and the dealer tag was not registered to her car. The VIN showed it was assigned to a 2020 Escalade, not the 2018 model she was driving. Both VIN decals were also found to have been swapped.

As for the car she was driving, it was stolen from Pennsylvania.

Martinez told officials she owned a car dealership in Tampa, called Champa Bay Auto Brokers, which recently closed in April 2023.

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During their investigation, Troopers found a 2022 Cadillac Escalade confirmed to be stolen from Clearwater in June 2023 that had been “re-vinned.”

Martinez was arrested and taken to the Hernando County Jail on charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a vehicle with altered numbers.

The investigation is ongoing.

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