Gerie Leigh Clayton, the owner of Scottsdale-based custom motorcycle maker Sucker Punch Sallys, has been arrested on felony theft charges.
Scottsdale police say Clayton, 64, defrauded at least two people by taking money for custom bikes that were never made.
"They had placed orders from out of state or out of the country and made significant deposits to have the work done, and these custom motorcycles weren't put together and weren't shipped out," Scottsdale Police Officer Kevin Watts tells New Times.
Police say Scottsdale PD's auto crimes unit has been investigating the shop for two years, and along the way, found more than $3.6 million worth of judgments in civil court cases against Sucker Punch Sallys.
The felony charges of theft by misrepresentation stem from two people, one from North Carolina and the other from Canada, who paid out about $35,000 for custom "bobber" motorcycles that were never delivered.
Watts says these latest cases amount to felony theft instead of civil claims because detectives don't believe there was any intent by Sucker Punch Sallys to make the customers' bikes.
While the customers were inquiring as to why their bikes weren't being delivered, police say the company doled out excuses, like, "We're working on it."
"For a while it was, 'We're in meetings with investors, so we're not taking new orders,' but that didn't cover people who put down deposits -- significant deposits," Watts says.
Scottsdale PD's auto crimes detectives think there could be more victims, so they're asking to contact the police department if you've been defrauded by Sucker Punch Sallys.
Back in 2008, Sucker Punch Sallys was profiled in a story for the Arizona Republic's business section.
The story says that at the time, the company was making about 450 bikes a year, and were being sold at 25 dealers nationwide.
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