StarTribune.com
carwash033007

Home | Local + Metro

Kids phone in car-wash scam

From cell phone to cell phone, word rippled through town: Use this number for a free car wash.

Last update: March 30, 2007 - 8:17 AM

From cell phone to cell phone, word rippled through town: Use this number for a free car wash.

Over several weeks, cars carrying high school and college kids lined up six or seven deep outside Severson's Food Plus convenience store in Austin, Minn., waiting for a touch-free/cash-free wash.

With the stolen maintenance code programmed in their phones or memories, they ripped off at least 1,000 washes, police and store officials said Thursday.

The stolen suds caper dried up after three weeks, thanks to an astute Severson's employee, former middle school teacher Tom Scrabeck.

On March 19, the car wash malfunctioned, so he stood near it, putting in customer's codes manually. The cars trickled through, many driven by nervous young people with no sales slips. When Scrabeck asked one of them, a teenaged girl, for her code, he said, "She hemmed and hawed and then looked in her cell phone and gave me her number."

Now the hunt's on for the culprits, said Austin Police Chief Paul Philipp.

On Thursday, Scrabeck had some advice for the scofflaws: "Get a job. And pay for your washes."

JOY POWELL

Recent Local + Metro stories

Saints seek new St. Paul ballpark site - March 30, 2007
Saints seek new St. Paul ballpark site - The team isn't threatening to leave, but talk is picking up for a move from Midway Stadium. More

Comment on this story   |   Be the first to comment   |  Hide reader comments

Subscribe
Dog Classified

New Home Wanted

Hundreds of puppies and dogs seeking new homes. Find one now!

Win tickets to the Walker After Hours/Preview Party event.

Join Vita.mn for the Walker After Hours/Preview Party event at Walker Art Center on Nov. 20. The party will feature DJ Scott Stulen, Lookbook in Gallery 8, film screenings, exhibition previews not yet open to the public and more.

See all contests