Rhode Island § 31-48-2 - Motor Vehicle Chop Shop, Stolen and Altered Property

§ 31-48-2. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter the following terms mean:

(1) “Chop shop” means any building, lot, or other premise where one or more persons are or have been knowingly engaged in altering, destroying, disassembling, dismantling, reassembling, or knowingly storing any motor vehicle, or motor vehicle part known to be illegally obtained by theft, fraud, or conspiracy to defraud, in order to either:

(i) Alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, obliterate, or remove the identity, including the vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, in order to misrepresent the identity of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, or to prevent the identification of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part; or

(ii) Sell or dispose of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.

(2) “Motor vehicle” includes every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, which is self propelled or which may be connected to and towed by a self propelled device, and also includes any and all other land based devices which are self propelled but which are not designed for use upon a highway, including, but not limited to, farm machinery and construction equipment.

(3) “Person” includes a natural person, company, corporation, unincorporated association, partnership, professional corporation, and any other legal entity.