Glass company owner indicted in school bus windshield scam

PHOENIX — Maricopa County Attorney Andrew P. Thomas announced Monday that Troy Jason Vollberg has been indicted in connection with an elaborate scheme in which school bus windshields at Scottsdale Unified School District were destroyed and Vollberg’s company profited by replacing them.

According to an in-depth police investigation, Vollberg hired people to smash the windows. More charges are expected, according to Thomas.

In April 2007, vandals destroyed windshields on 70 Scottsdale school buses that were parked overnight at the district bus yard. The total loss was $160,000, with $132,000 of that going to Vollberg’s company, Tri State Glass.

Additionally, police alleged that another business in the area, VMC Enterprises, was the victim of a similar scam after 22 truck windshields were damaged at a yard in July 2007. Tri State Glass had a verbal contract and was summoned to do the repair work. The total loss was nearly $45,000.

In August 2007, vandals returned to the Scottsdale district bus yard and smashed the windshields on 79 buses. Vollberg billed the district $270,000 for the repair work. The inflated bill led the school district to contact the Scottsdale Police Department.

The police launched an extensive investigation, which was reviewed by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. Last week, a grand jury returned a 12-count indictment listing charges that include fraudulent schemes, theft, criminal damage and burglary.