TEMECULA - The former owner of a large recreational vehicle sales center in Temecula was arrested Tuesday on charges he victimized a half-dozen people in a half-million-dollar scam.

Jan Eric Weilert, 58, was arrested about 8 a.m., as he left his home on Via Del Monte, just outside Temecula in the Wine Country area, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Detectives served a search warrant at the home.

Detectives say Weilert then went with them to RV Anywhere on Los Alamos Road in Murrieta, where they were serving a second search warrant.

Dave Atkins, who has only owned RV Anywhere for about a month, said Tuesday afternoon that Weilert has no connection to his business and worked only as a consultant, helping him with a computer software program for RV sales.

Weilert was arrested on suspicion of six counts of grand theft and two counts of being a non-caretaker who steals from an elderly victim, authorities said. He was booked at Southwest Detention Center in French Valley, where he was being held Tuesday night in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Weilert is accused of preying on six people who came to him between 2002 and 2005 to sell their motorhomes - either on consignment or as a trade-in for a newer RV, said sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez.

Two of those six victims are elderly, ages 70 and 79, which led to the elder theft counts, authorities said.

According to detectives, Weilert would agree to pay off the outstanding balance of the seller's outstanding loan on the motorhome, but then wouldn't actually do so.

He'd then sell that RV to an unsuspecting buyer who would be unable to register or get insurance for the vehicle because they didn't have clear title, Gutierrez said.

Detectives say they believe some of Weilert's alleged crimes happened before and after his license to sell vehicles was revoked sometime in 2002.

The loss to victims as now charged tops $555,000, Gutierrez said.

Local real estate agent Steve Snow says he was one of those who bought an RV from Weilert, fully believing he owned it before finding out otherwise.

Snow is not one of the six victims listed on the criminal complaint filed by the district attorney's office against Weilert. However, authorities did confirm Snow is connected to part of the criminal investigation of Weilert.

"I was elated when I found out he'd been arrested," Snow said Tuesday. "I was jumping up and down.

"I feel stupid for being taken by the guy like this," the 20-year Temecula resident said.

Snow, 57, said that in May 2004, he went to Weilert's then-business on Jefferson Avenue, where he traded in his used RV for a 35-foot, 1998 Pinnacle RV.

Weilert gave him about $10,000 as trade-in for the newer RV, which was valued at about $43,000, Snow said.

"I was buying the motorhome for my ex-wife and was going to let her live in it because she didn't have anywhere to live at the time," Snow said.

Three or four months went by after the purchase and there was no paperwork in the system, he said.

"I tried to license it and have it insured, but still couldn't," Snow said. He contacted Weilert, who told him he had just been really busy and the paperwork would be done soon.

But then, by the end of 2004 - about seven months after the purchase - still nothing, Snow said.

So he called the police, who told him there was already an investigation under way. He never got any money back from Weilert.

"I'm out $43,000," Snow said. "I can't believe I was sucked into this."

According to a 1999 article in The Californian, Weilert claimed he was doing $30 million in sales at his six RV centers, including the one in Temecula.

However, in April 1997, the company filed Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy, listing $6.9 million in debt.

According to Riverside County Superior Court records, Weilert was named in at least nine civil lawsuits from 1997 to 2004.

Detectives declined to specify what evidence they may have seized from Weilert's home when serving the search warrant there Tuesday morning.

According to the county assessor's office, the four-bedroom home, which sits on a slight hill and is surrounded by large palm trees, was built in 1992, is nearly 3,600 square feet in size on 5.8 acres with a pool.

Assessor's office records state that the Weilert property was last assessed 10 years ago and had a combined land and structure value then of more than $410,000. But a check of residences of similar size within a mile of the Weilert home show values of more than $1.2 million.

Weilert is scheduled to be arraigned on the eight felony counts Thursday.

Sheriff's detectives say they believe more charges could be filed against Weilert as the investigation continues. They ask that anyone with information about the case call the Southwest Sheriff's Station at (951) 696-3000.

- Contact staff writer John Hall at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2628, or jhall@californian.com.