JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 36-year-old Jacksonville man is facing charges after police said they tracked several stolen cars to a chop shop he was running in Northwest Jacksonville.
Investigators tracking a stolen vehicle said they found the chop shop on Soutel Drive about three blocks west of Lem Turner Road.
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According to the arrest report for Sean O’Neal Hacker, Florida Highway Patrol troopers pinged the GPS tracker of a stolen SUV and its last location came up as the shop on Soutel Drive.
Troopers searching the property found parts from a blue BMW neatly stacked and wrapped in plastic.
When the troopers checked the BMW’s VIN number, they found it had been reported stolen last February from Miami Gardens.
The troopers also found a white Kia Sportage with fake VIN stickers. After looking closer, they discovered it was stolen on New Year’s Day 2025 in Volusia County.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Auto Crimes Task Force joined the investigation and found more stolen items: a Honda Grom motorcycle with its VIN removed, a Toyota forklift missing its VIN, and a Sea Doo Jet Ski without a hull number.
There was also a 2011 BMW 535I with a dealer tag registered to someone in Georgia.
The stolen Land Rover was not on the property but in a back room, investigators found a new-looking Land Rover storage bin.
They also found a stolen U-Haul trailer.
The stolen vehicles and parts were towed away and Hacker was charged with running a chop shop and three counts of having vehicles with altered VINs.
A stolen Mercedes G-Wagon was also tracked to the shop in December but wasn’t found on the property.