South Carolina § 56-29-20 - Definitions.

§ 56-29-20. Definitions.

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Chop shop" means any building, lot, or other premises 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 either to:

(a) 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

(b) sell or dispose of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.

(2) "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.

(4) "Unidentifiable" means that the uniqueness of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part cannot be established by either expert law enforcement investigative personnel specially trained and experienced in motor vehicle theft investigative procedures and motor vehicle identification examination techniques, or by expert employees of not-for-profit motor vehicle theft prevention agencies specially trained and experienced in motor vehicle theft investigation procedures and motor vehicle identification examination techniques.

(5) "Vehicle identification number" means a number, a letter, a character, a datum, a derivative, or a combination thereof, used by the manufacturer or the Department of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of uniquely identifying a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.

HISTORY: 1987 Act No. 16, SECTION 3; 1993 Act No. 181, SECTION 1500; 1996 Act No. 459, SECTION 243.