(A) No person shall knowingly buy, offer to sell, receive, dispose of, conceal or have in his or her possession any motor vehicle, as defined in R.C. § 4501.01, from which the manufacturer’s serial number or any other distinguishing number or identification mark has been removed, defaced, covered or destroyed for the purpose of concealing or destroying the identity of the said motor vehicle.
(B) This section dos not apply to the possession of an owner, or the owner’s insurer, who provides satisfactory evidence of all of the following:
(1) That the vehicle identification number or derivative thereof on the vehicle or part has been removed, defaced, covered, altered or destroyed, after the owner acquired such possession, by another person without the consent of the owner, by accident or other casualty not due to the owner’s purpose to conceal or destroy the identity of the vehicle or vehicle part, or by ordinary wear and tear;
(2) That the person is the owner of the vehicle as shown on a valid certificate of title issued by this State or certificate of title or other lawful evidence of title issued in another state, in a clear chain of title beginning with the manufacturer; and
(3) That the original identity of the vehicle can be established in a manner that excludes any reasonable probability that the vehicle has been stolen from another person.
(C) This section does not apply to the good faith acquisition and disposition of vehicles and vehicle parts as junk or scrap in the ordinary course of business by a scrap metal processing facility as defined in R.C. § 4737.05(D) or by a motor vehicle salvage dealer licensed under R.C. Chapter 4738.
(D) Violation of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(R.C. § 4549.07) (Prior Code, § 7.03.27)